Cultural mapping tools and co-design process: A content analysis to layering perspectives on the creative production of space

This study draws on the lessons learned during a summer school on cultural mapping (CM), which linked these methodologies and the co-design process to the city’s re-application to the UNESCO creative city designation. The event implemented artistic and participatory approaches, such as experimental initiatives that focused on the involvement of artists—the main creative producers of space—to foster participatory governance processes and reflect on the validity of the UNESCO label and its inherent monoculture emphasis. A content analysis of the course was done to provide a conceptual analysis of the theory and practice of cultural mapping that is generally under-theorized. By situating the course’s exercises in the theoretical triad of Lefebvre’s social production of space, the article indicates a possible structure for multi-perspective layering toward the participatory practices on the creative production of space. The results show that there is still no consistent way of presenting CM methodologies and processes, and for that CM remains not fully integrated into the planning and development practices of places. The study suggests further investigation on the links between cultural mapping and design science for co-design process crafting, and cultural mapping tool selection according to the different stages of multi-stakeholder work on articulating people-place meanings.