Improving quality of life through cultural regeneration and urban development: The Marseille Euroméditerranée renewal project

Competitive cities improve the interaction between culture, and regeneration building, economic development and social renewal, to achieve more comprehensive development. It is a question not only of boosting the economies of culture but also producing new economies, starting from cultural capital, understood as an expression of place identity and forming a system together with other urban capital. Indeed, creativity is found not only in the typical characteristics of the entrepreneurial spirit but also in forms such as the dissemination of behaviour that is favourable to cultural exchange as well as the enhancement of lifestyle diversity; so new urban policies should be considered. The experiences of creative cities show us two types of creative clusters: cultural clusters, which are created around activities such as fine arts, music, cinema, architecture and design, and whose initiation is encouraged and planned by local administration; and clusters of events, whose development stems from the organization of great events or different kinds of recreational and cultural manifestations. Starting from this premise, this article aims to show the new urban policies able to stimulate sustainable urban regeneration and innovation. As regards, in the framework of the cluster of events, the case study of waterfront regeneration of Marseille Euromediterranee will be illustrated.