CAPITULO II: Las conceptualizaciones filosóficas acerca de los valores en Risier
2.2. Surgimiento del valor en la relación sujeto objeto
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questions [RQs], which in substance articulates the academic objectives of this thesis. I order the RQs in terms of dominant and subordinate questions, so as to present a clear order and hierarchy of priority.
The aim of all these RQs is (referring back to the title of this thesis) a critical understanding of the means by which a 'creative' city is built: how does one build a creative city? My response to this large (and abstract) question is by way of a sustained analysis of the DMC, which is the first attempt in the world to construct a 'brand new' creative city (in reality a district of Seoul), and to do so according to explicitly 'creative' policies and plans. My specific analysis of this specific case generates observations, conceptual issues and political dilemmas which, I maintain, are relevant for so-called 'creative cities' globally, and so the many cultural policies that have emerged that pertain to creative city development. My specific questions, therefore, are as follows:
My first category of RQs concern the concept of creative and creative city, along with the cultural policy discourses that generated the concepts as attractive and politically useful concepts in the West.
RQ1. Theoretically, how has the term 'creativity' been used with reference to urban spaces and places (such as cities)? [This is the main subject of Chapter Two].
RQ1.a. What semantic, and other, differences do we need to take into account when using the term 'creativity' in the context of East Asia (that is, what distinctions between West and East must be
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observed)?
RQ1.b. With reference to specific Western theoretical trends (in urban cultural policy and related economic theories) how have ‘creative urban places’ been defined, and its resulting terms applied?
RQ1.c. How has the term ‘creative’ been used to define and articulate 'economic' policy aims (both national and civic)?
My second category of RQs concerns the circulation, application and significance of the term 'creative' for South Korea. This will allow me to open (and strictly delimit) an investigation into Seoul city policies that involve explicit reference to creativity -- some of which, of course, were the result of a direct response to national government diktat or central political will.
RQ2. What specific policies have been inspired by the creative city movement as articulated in South Korea? [This is addressed in Chapter Two and is the main subject of Chapter Three].
RQ2.a. What key themes, aims and objectives characterise the creative city movement as it is understood and recognised by the city of Seoul?
RQ2.b. On what terms have creative policies for Seoul city become synonymous with (or synchonised with) the city's development policies as a whole?
My third category of RQ will locate and identify the urban dynamics and social dimension of South Korea's 'creative' policies -- and the planning and
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design practices they have generated. This category will involve an assessment of the tensions and contradictions between the embedded 'Western' assumptions of creative city policies, and the socio-cultural particularities of local South Korean contexts.
RQ3. On what terms is the Seoul Digital Media City an exemplar of creative city policies? [This question is addressed in Chapter Three, and is the main subject of Chapter Four and Chapter Six].
RQ3.a. On what terms do Seoul city’s planning and urban development policies attempt to construct 'creative' urban spaces and places? RQ3.b How are the policies for creative urban places and spaces (urban
design and planning) intrinsically connected with Seoul's policies for ‘creative industries’ and creative ‘workers’?
Finally, this thesis will, through empirical research, identify the specific local and concrete manifestations of creativity policies -- and do so through an examination (visual as well as conceptual) of aspects of, and particular places within, Seoul's DMC. [This is the main subject of Chapter Seven, and features within the extended discussion of Chapter Eight].
RQ4. What specific examples of creativity, arts and culture within the DMC offers us an opportunity to evaluate the success of Seoul city's creative policies?
RQ4.a. What aspects of the DMC's urban landscape articulate the tension between East and West and between the local and the global? RQ4.b. Is the indigenous, local or 'authentic' Korean culture changed or
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reconfigured within the DMC complex?
RQ4.c. Can failures, deficiencies or inadequacies be identitifed in the DMC -- and their cause?
Of course, many more issues or observations will be made during the course of this thesis, and these four categories of RQ do not fully represent all the thesis content -- not, for example, the extensive discussion on methodology (Chapter Five). The last category of RQ will also generate a short concluding discussion on alternative approaches to the creative policies of the DMC -- potential remedies or critical responses to the way this new creative urban landscape manages the social and aesthetic dimensions of its own output, particularly its streetscapes and public spaces. My comments will intentionally refer to a more general critique of the creative city framework, where a greater understanding of the social dynamics of urban places plays a more visible role in design, planning and cultural commissioning.