Abstract

RODRIGUEZ-BARCON, Alberto. The role of the creative class in the commercial gentrification of the historic centre of a Coruña. Finisterra [online]. 2020, n.113, pp.89-116. ISSN 0430-5027.  https://doi.org/10.18055/Finis19046.

The general aim of this article is to characterize the existence of a commercial gentrification process in the Orzán neighbourhood, one of the four that make up the historic centre of the city of A Coruña (Spain). On the one hand, the structural process of physical degradation of the neighbourhood has reconfigured its brand image by attracting new alternative and underground business models. On the other hand, it is suggested that the growing weight of the creative class in the city, nourished by the success of global multinationals such as Inditex, demands and sustains this new type of commerce according to its aesthetic preferences of consumption and entertainment, thus providing a new commercial functionality to the Orzán. An ethnographic approach is carried out to analyse the material degradation of the neighbourhood and the transformation of its commercial fabric complemented with the exploitation of various secondary sources and the use of the historical viewer of the Google Street Viewer. In addition, a measurement of the creative class is developed based on the variable “job” and on different spatial scales by applying four indicators constructed from different interpretations of the concept of the creative class in the Spanish context.

Keywords : Creative class; gentrification; brand image; historic centre; A Coruña.

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