Documents 

Constitutional recognition of housing rights as social rights in Brazil was not followed by judicial decisions in most cases. However, some decisions have engendered a new narrative, protecting housing. This paper a) presents a perspective on new constitutionalism as a field that enables innovative decisions; and b) examines the judicial decision regarding “circus school” conflict in São Paulo, occupied by housing rights militants. The objective is to identify aspects of this theoretical framework that enforce housing rights. [editor summary]

Creativity is a major driving force in modern economies, on a global scale, but also on a local scale. In other words, cities may benefit from a highly creative environment in order to foster their development. The aim of this contribution is to depict and examine the dynamics of situated creativity by presenting an anatomy of the creative city based on three different layers, namely the underground, the middleground and the upperground. In order to illustrate this point of view, the culture cluster in the creative city of Montreal is analyzed. [editor summary]

This paper presents a survey of the main theoretical elements, debates, and strategic perspectives on the link between cultural creation and the building of social cohesion in the city. The question addressed is: How can a cultural creation-oriented approach contribute to making the city more cohesive while contributing to the city‘s overall economic and social development? This paper is divided into three sections: The first defines the main concepts and presents the main stakes. The second section provides a summary of the main debates on creation and creativity in the city and offers some innovative proposals. The third section sets the groundwork for a city development approach that would allow building a more cohesive city on the basis of cultural creation. The paper shows that creation can be a collective way of enhancing the quality of life for all citizens and this calls for innovative forms of governance. [editor summary]