City Life in Place Des Arts

Prepared by Mahsa Mozayeni Supervised by Dr. Ipek Tureli Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture McGill University, Montreal September 2018

Key words: Place des Arts, Urban design, Public space, Social interaction, Public life

Abstract

Place des Arts, in the Quartier des Spectacles, is one of the Montreal districts planned to increase socio-cultural activities by providing large-scale events and enhancing the quality of urban space to stimulate people to join together in city spaces and enjoy city life. The aim of this research is to analyze Place des Arts as a cultural and people-oriented public space to investigate how vibrant public life takes place in Place des Arts and how different people, as the users of this place, perceive it. This research argues whether Place des Arts is successful in terms of the quality of public life in order to explore how people interact with this public space in everyday life. By simultaneously focusing on observing current public life in Place des Arts, the semi- structured interviews with different users and studying the development process of Place des Arts, this paper attempts to explore what makes the experiences in Place des Arts comfortable and interesting for its users and how people use this public space for optional activities and social interaction. It also shows the practical limitations of the creative city concept in the cultural revitalization of Place des Arts. This research is conducted to determine the spatial and social characteristics of Place des Arts that promote the quality of public life.

City life in Place des Arts

Prepared by Mahsa Mozayeni Supervised by Dr. Ipek Tureli Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture McGill University, Montreal September 2018

City life in Place des Arts

Mahsa Mozayeni

Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture

McGill University, Montreal

September 2018

A research project submitted to Graduate and postdoctoral Studies at McGill

University In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of M-Arch (Post-

Professional) in Urban Design and Housing

Table of Contents

Abstract 3 Résumé 4 Acknowledgments 5

Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review 6 1.1.Statement of Problem 7 1.2.Objective and Research Questions 7 1.3.Literature Review 8 1.3.1 Vibrant Public life 8 1.3.1.1 Democratic Characteristics 9 1.3.1.2 Social Characteristics 10 1.3.1.3 Spatial Characteristics 14 1.4.Methodology 19 1.4.1 Observation 20 1.4.1.1 Behavioral mapping 20 1.4.1.2 Tracing 21 1.4.1.3 Photography 21 1.4.2 Semi-Structured Interviews 22 1.4.3 Sampling 23 1.5.Significance 24 1.6.Chapter summaries 25

Chapter 2: The Development of Place des Arts 27 2.1 The Project Objectives 28 2.2 Key Actors and Phases 31 2.3 Accessibility 37 2.4 Democratic Characteristics 41 2.4.1Environment for All 41 2.4.2 The Problems Associated with Gentrification 44 2.4.3 Practical Limitation of Creative City Concept 46

1 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Chapter 3: The Users’ Experiences and Perceptions of Place des Arts 49 3.1 Social and Spatial Characteristics 50 3.1.1 Social Activities and Behavioral Patterns 50 3.1.2 Stationary Activities 51 3.1.3 Public Plays 62 3.1.4 Pedestrian Movements 64 3.1.5 Experiences and Perceptions 70 3.1.6 The Desire to Live near Place des Arts 71 3.2 The Method of Transport 72 3.3 Safety and Protection 73 3.4 Problems in the Users’ Perspectives 74 3.5 Findings 75

Conclusion 77 Bibliography 80

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Abstract

Arts, this paper attempts to explore what makes the experiences in Place des Arts comfortable and interesting for its users and how people use this public space for optional activities and social interaction. It also shows the practical limitations of the creative city concept in the cultural revitalization of Place des Arts. This research is conducted to determine the spatial and social characteristics of Place des Arts that promote the quality of public life.

3 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Résumé

La Place des Arts, dans le Quartier des spectacles, est l'un des quartiers montréalais prévus pour accroître les activités socioculturelles en organisant des événements de grande envergure et en améliorant la qualité de l'espace urbain pour inciter les gens à s’y retrouver L'objectif de cette recherche est d'analyser la Place des Arts en tant qu'espace public culturel et axé sur les citoyens afin d'étudier la vitalité de la vie publique sur la Place des Arts et la perception de différents groupes, en tant qu'utilisateurs de ce lieu. Cette recherche plaide en faveur du succès de la Place des Arts en termes de qualité de la vie publique afin d’explorer comment les gens interagissent avec cet espace public dans la vie quotidienne. En mettant l'accent simultanément sur l'observation de la vie publique actuelle à la Place des Arts, les entrevues semi-structurées avec différents utilisateurs et l'étude du processus de développement de la Place des Arts, cette recherche tente d'explorer ce qui rend les expériences de la Place des Arts confortables et intéressantes pour ses utilisateurs et comment les gens utilisent cet espace public pour des activités facultatives et des interactions sociales. Il montre également les limites pratiques du concept de ville créative dans la revitalisation culturelle de la Place des Arts. Cette recherche est menée pour déterminer les caractéristiques spatiales et sociales de la Place des Arts qui favorisent la qualité de la vie publique.

4 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Ipek Tureli for her continuous guidance, valuable suggestions and availability over the last year that helped to complete this research. I am also grateful for her support and kindness to overcome difficulties in this research work.

I would like also thank all my professors for the wonderful opportunities that they provided for the academic learning and background knowledge for this research. I appreciate Ms. Marcia

King for her support and advices during my study in the last year.

I am thankful for all people who participated in the interviews. My cardinal thanks to Dr.

Richard Cooper for his help with editing this report and to Ms. Sonya Faber and Dr. Leila

Ghaffari for their helps in French language matters.

I am forever thankful to my family for their endless love and support to complete my study successfully. I am intensely grateful to my loving husband for his continues helps, encouragement and patience for immigration difficulties and completion of this program.

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Chapter 1

Introduction and Literature Review

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Statement of Problem

Place des Arts, in the Quartier des Spectacles, is one of the Montreal districts planned to increase socio-cultural activities by performing festivals and enhancing the quality of urban space to stimulate people to join together in city spaces. This research examines the spatial and social experience of Place des Arts specially from the user’s perspective to investigate where and how dynamic public life takes place in this attractive city space. Although many current revitalization initiatives are centered on high technology or large infrastructures, this research emphasizes the essential role that cultural and artistic activities can play in the urban revitalization process to make urban spaces attractive. It also shows the practical limitations of the creative city concept in the cultural revitalization of Place des Arts. The different data collection methods, including the review of policy documents and plans, semi-structured interviews, site observation, tracing, photography and behavioral mapping provide the detailed foundation for the analysis of public life in Place des Arts as a vibrant and cultural public space.

1.2 Objective and Research Questions

The objectives of this research are to study people’s activities and behavioral patterns in Place des Arts and to examine the democratic, social and spatial characteristics that make public life vibrant in this cultural public space. The research question for this study is as follows:

How does vibrant public life take place in Place des Arts form and how different people perceive it?

By simultaneously focusing on observing current public life in Place des Arts, the interviews with users and studying the development process of Place des Arts, this paper attempts to explore

7 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni what makes the experiences in Place des Arts comfortable and interesting for its users and how people use this public space for social activities and interactions. This research is conducted to determine democratic, social and spatial characteristics of Place des Arts that promote the quality of public life and social and leisure activities that attract different groups of people to stay and enjoy together in this cultural public space.

1.3 Literature Review

1.3.1 Vibrant Public life study

From the 1960s, some researchers reacted to the fact that human scale and people-oriented public spaces had become invisible in city planning. Vehicular traffic was the first priority in urban planning, while pedestrians and public life were overlooked. From the mid-1980s, urban planners and local politicians became more interested in public life in order to create attractive cities, absorb more investments, brand their city and compete with other cities. Economy also encouraged the authorities to use public life studies as a tool to document the development of the city life for the purpose of attracting taxpayers, tourists and investors. Other themes such as sustainability, health and social responsibility made public life studies more relevant. 1 For instance, walking and biking for daily life are not only environment friendly modes of transport, but also promote health and security in the city.2

In public life studies, some researchers focus on design guidelines for successful public spaces, while others suggest the quality of spaces that support dynamic social life. These studies could be categorized into democratic, social and spatial characteristics of dynamic public life.

1 Gehl and Birgitte, How to study public life, 63-77. 2 Ibid.,78.

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1.3.1.1 Democratic Characteristics

Many researchers emphasize the democratic role of city spaces. They argue that cities should be accessible by all kinds of people, be “representative” and “responsive.” Allan Jacobs argues that urban planners focused on the traffic role of streets rather than places for people. Streets should tolerate people with different social backgrounds. He and Appleyard list the goals of good city life: “Livability, identity and control, access to opportunity, imagination and joy, authenticity and meaning, community and public life, urban self-reliance, an environment for all.” 3 The urban environment should encourage citizens to express themselves and to be involved individually or collectively in the places they use, whether they own them or not. A city should be a place to extend people’s experiences and imaginations, where they can meet new people, learn other perspectives and have fun, a place that enables the citizens to release their serious life and enjoy themselves.4 Jacobs and Appleyard emphasized the democratic and social roles of city life while they do not explain how these features can be studied.

Although nowadays virtual platforms are used for informing and gathering attention, public space still has a democratic significance in a city. Citizens can gather to demonstrate in a public space as a “forum for public opinion.”5 As Appleyard and Jacobs state “A city should be more than a warring collection of interest groups, classes and neighborhoods; it should breed a commitment to a larger whole, to tolerance, justice, law and democracy.”6 Public places should be responsive, democratic, and meaningful. They should serve users’ need to achieve responsiveness in a people-oriented environment. Democratic spaces protect the rights of their

3 Donald Appleyard and Allan B. Jacobs, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto (Berkeley: Institute of Urban & Regional Development, University of California, 1982), 11-16. 4 Appleyard and Jacobs, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto, 12-13. 5 Gehl and Birgitte, How to study public life, 73. 6 Appleyard and Jacobs, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto, 15.

9 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni users, are accessible by all groups, provide the freedom of action, and create the sense of ownership. Meaningful spaces allow people to make connections with place and build memories.7 Allan B. Jacobs in his book Great Streets describes some criteria for a great street.

He explains that “a great street should help make community”, be accessible by different people not just by one class or age, and be a “setting for activities that bring people together.” Streets should also be physically comfortable and safe, encourage passive participation, demonstration and responsibility. The best streets are “memorable” with positive influences; they are

“representative” and they can stand for others.8 David Harvey explains that the right to the city is not only the private or public access to the city facilities; it is the right to “reinvent” the city by

“a collective power over the urbanization process.” He argues that the human right of freedom to build or change the city has been overlooked.9 Studying the dynamic public life from the user’s perspectives helps to explore the hide problems occurred through urban space developments. It provides the opportunity for perceiving people’s right, problems and even their suggestions to make a better city space rather than promoting the physical qualities of a public space or making top-down urban planning.

1.3.1.2 Social Characteristics

One of the prominent scholars in public life studies is William Whyte. He critically studied behavioral patterns and social interaction in urban plazas to explore how some spaces are attractive to people and others are not. The study was done on the many public spaces such as plazas and small parks during three years by direct observations. According to his research,

7 Carr, Stephen, Mark Francis, Leanne G. Rivlin and Andrew M. Stone. Public space. (Cambridge [England]; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1992). 8 Allan B. Jacobs, Great Streets (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1993), 8-9. 9 David Harvey, Rebel Cities : From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. (New York: Verso, 2012), 4.

10 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni physical factors, such as sitting spaces, food facilities and sidewalk qualities as well as the natural factors including sun, wind, green spaces and water influence public life. He also argues that dynamic public life happens in the public spaces that provide opportunities for social encounters among strangers. He calls such spaces “triangulation”, such as steps in front of buildings or the edges of busy paths.10 Whyte’s research depicts the social life in public spaces and how it is important for lively city spaces. Using direct observation of people’s behavioral patterns and social activities in public spaces, he introduces new insights in public life study and the interaction between people and public space.

According to Gehl’s research, social city activities refer to all forms of communications among people in an urban space. They include necessary activities, such as walking to work, and optional activities, recreational or fun activities, in everyday life. Moreover, social activities involve many passive see-and-hear contacts; watching people and what is happening are the most widespread social city activities. Furthermore, there are more active contacts. For instance, exchanging greetings or small talk at a bus stop may extend to a great discussion on a new topic.

Children playing or young people hanging out together are other extensive contacts that use city space as a meeting place. The role of city space is to provide public meeting places for urban dwellers. People usually gather when things are happening and spontaneously visit with other people. The different ranges of activities reveal the opportunities of public city spaces generally to strengthen social sustainability.11

One of the social activities that take place in city spaces is shopping. Studies in shopping behavior depict that in addition to the purchasing of products and services, other activities, such

10 William H Whyte,, Jr. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. (Washington, D.C.: Conservation Foundation, 1980). 11 Jan Gehl, Cities for People, (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010), 22.

11 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni as meeting and spending time with friends, watching other people and walking around take place that shows “social affiliation and interaction” among basic motivations for shopping behavior.

Mehta explains that commercial streets are utilized for active and passive engagement, entertainment, leisure and relaxation.12

People do not have any practical reason for being in a public space. Although people leave their homes for rational reasons, in many situations the real reason for selecting a public space is simply to be there, to see and be seen. Thus, it is important that a public space has something to offer. This can be a huge green space or a simple bench, but the most important element is other people.13 “The human eye can see other people and other activities within a distance of 100 meters.” Plazas and squares, usually with the same dimension, invite people to stay and look at what they offer. Central staying spaces in the city with many functions usually attract many people, local citizens, national or international visitors. The high utilization of city center spaces is empowered by the most vital city attraction that is “other people”. The large number of activities also promotes city life in these areas.14 Christopher Alexander describes cities as a mechanism for “sustaining human contact.” He states:

“People come to cities for contact. That’s what cities are: meeting places. Yet the people

who live in cities are often contactless and alienated. A few of them are physically lonely:

almost all of them live in a state of endless inner loneliness. They have thousands of

contacts, but the contacts are empty and unsatisfying.”15

12 Vikas Mehta, “Look Closely,” 30. 13 Gehl and Birgitte, How to study public life, 90. 14 Jan Gehl. New City Life. (Copenhagen: Arkitektens Forlag, the Danish Architectural Press, 2006), 108-109. 15 Christopher Alexander, The City As a Mechanism for Sustaining Human Contact. (Berkeley: Institute of Urban & Regional Development, University of California, 1966), 1.

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Places for unplanned communication in modern cities have been lacking. Oldenberg in his book,

The Great Good Place, calls these places “third places” where one bumps into friends and neighbors in an unplanned manner; such places are public spaces.16

Simões Aelbrecht argues that public spaces should provide the capacity for social interactions among strangers. She explains that the combination of the social, spatial and experiential conditions promote public life in public spaces. She criticized modern public spaces for “being too designed, bland, safe, and clean”; they do not have spaces for “unplanned social encounters” and prevent people to change them based on their needs. According to her observations, people tend to use places that are not intentionally designed such as “the thresholds of public buildings, the props at the entrances, the edges of busy paths and among others” because these kinds of places have more social comfort and informality. She explains that the spatial arrangement of thresholds and steps provide “experiential transitions from private to public domain and thus, from tight to loose behavior.” They also provide adequate space and freedom for diverse optional and stationary activities and as a result, opportunities for social encounters. Pauses in street crossings, watching urban spaces and other people at the edges of busy paths also offer social experiences. Simões Aelbrech concludes that social interactions do not rely on the prepared social places or “third places.” They happen in the spaces that have a low level of control and physical order.17 Many of her findings in public life as well as other scholars were observed in

Place des Arts. They will be presented and discussed in the next chapters.

16 Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place: Cafés, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day (New York: Marlowe, 1997). 17 Patricia Simões Aelbrecht, “Rethinking Urban Design for a Changing Public Life.” Journal of Place Management and Development 3, no. 2 (2010): 113-29. doi:10.1108/17538331011062667.

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1.3.1.3 Spatial Characteristics

In order to achieve the goal of dynamic city life, Appleyard and Jacobs suggest some planning principles, such as density, mixed function, livable streets, human scale and different small buildings and spaces with complex arrangements.18 Gehl, in his book Life Between Buildings, also introduces key concepts to promote city life: to assemble, integrate, invite and open up rather than to disperse, segregate, repel and close in. His focus is the interaction between public life and space rather than producing design guidelines. He examines the human-based patterns of use by documenting the performance of urban spaces and analyzing the factors that have impacts on their uses. He measures the success of urban spaces by quantifying the pedestrian flows, level of stationary activities and human contact. He explains that there is a direct relationship between the dimension of the public square and a sense of place. He also argues that individual events stimulate others. Gehl categorizes factors that influence pedestrian flows in public spaces in relation to building height, orientation of entrances, multifunctional areas and active frontages, density, modes of transportation, accessibility and visibility.19

Most of what people take in visually is at the eye level and ground floor level of buildings, and thus façades influence activity patterns on the sidewalks. The façades with open and varied characters, small units with many doors, large variations in function, no blind units and few passive ones, good details and materials are more attractive for pedestrians, and more stops happen near these kinds of façades.20

18 Appleyard and Jacobs, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto, 11-16. 19 Beatriz Campos. Review of Life Between Buildings: Using public space, by Jan Gehl. The Journal of Space Syntax, 2012, 14:1, 125-126. 20 Jan Gehl, Lotte Johansen Kaefer, and Reigstad Solvejg, “Close Encounters with Buildings.” Urban Design International 11, no. 1 (04, 2006): 29-47. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.udi.9000162.

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On the basis of human needs and meaning, Gehl introduces three main categories for the quality of life in people-oriented public spaces: “protection, comfort and delight” (Figure 1-1).

Reasonable protection against physical injury, insecurity and the negative aspects of climate are necessary. The space should provide comfort and an invitation to activities in relation to the use of the public space, such as “walking, standing, sitting, seeing, talking, hearing and self- expression.” People also should be able to enjoy the positive aspects of climate. Aesthetic and good design are also essential, but not sufficient to empower the quality of life.21

21 Gehl, Cities for People, 238.

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Figure1-1- Quality criteria of life in people- oriented public spaces. Gehl, Jan. Cities for People. (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010), 239.

Helen Beck in her studies, “Linking the Quality of Public Spaces to Quality of Life”, shows that

70 percent of people visit their local park frequently. She states that “our parks, streets and other public spaces are the one public service that everybody uses on a daily basis, that are free and available to all and that impact on everybody's wellbeing.” She explains that there is a direct relation between the quality of life indicators and safety, maintenance and comfort of the public

16 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni space.22 The comfort of city spaces is one of the most important factors to enhance city life.

Densification, pedestrian-friendly spaces, mixed-use and connected city spaces are factors that bring comfort for users. On the small scale, providing chances for encounters over food and drinks, art, music, games, and movable seats also promotes lively public spaces.23 Today urban designs tend to have more flexible plans, temporary activities, pop-up shops, art installation, urban agriculture and recreation activities. These are bottom-up interventions which improve the intensification, diversification and comfort in the use of public spaces. Temporary places fill the gaps and enliven the urban experience, and they can bring considerable benefit when sensitively incorporated into urban planning.24

In Gehl’s observations, the other factor for lively public spaces is the stationary activities that make people spend more time in the urban space. People usually prefer to sit or stand at the border of the public space. If the edges are fully occupied, they move inwards. This tendency is called the “edge effect”. Gehl explains that it is because people tend to sit in the areas facing pedestrian flows to have a richer view.25 However, if someone meets an acquaintance while walking in town, they usually stop and talk at the place where they met, even if it is in the middle of the square.26

Presence of sitting arrangements in public places has been discussed in urban space studies.

According to Whyte, the amount of sitting space does not add any qualitative factors to a public space. Rather, sitting spaces should be physically and socially comfortable and allow people to

22 Helen Beck, "Linking the Quality of Public Spaces to Quality of Life," Journal of Place Management and Development 2, no. 3 (2009): 240-248, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17538330911013933. 23 David Sucher, City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village (Seattle: City Comforts, 2003), 20-43. 24 Bishop, Peter, and Lesley Williams. The Temporary City. London: Routledge, 2012. 25 Gehl, Cities for People, 126. 26 Gehl and Birgitte, How to study public life, 84.

17 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni choose. Gehl accentuates on the significance of good sitting arrangements and locations. As sitting activities depend on favorable external circumstances, so the spatial and functional qualities of the location should be considered for placement of seating. Mehta’s observational study and behavioral maps showed that public seating near businesses areas was used for different activities. He also states that “the use of fixed, movable and integral seating increases dramatically when the seating was provided near stores that offered goods and services that could be immediately consumed outside the stores”27. People also like to sit in the mainstream places, like steps or the border of the pool. Gehl addresses these seating facilities as “secondary seating,” for example, stairways, pedestals, steps, low-height walls. “People tend to sit the most where there are places to sit,” concluded Whyte based on numerous observational studies in

Manhattan.

In conclusion, studies on public life provide valuable insight into various opportunities offered by public space for the perception and interaction between public life and city spaces. They often simply categorized behaviors and design features. This research tries to explore the democratic, social and spatial characteristic of public life by focusing on the fieldwork of Place des Arts, as a cultural public space to see how this place attracts local people and visitors; how well it is able to support social and cultural activities and how different people, as the users of this public space, perceive it. As Simões Aelbrecht state:

“Through the study of a concrete case that we can engage more productively in the

debates on public life and public space and that we can emerge in this complex urban

relational web and explore in a particular context all the kinds of public spaces, locations

27 Vikas Mehta, “Look Closely,” 44.

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and conditions that are meaningful to our changing public life.”28

1.4 Methodology

In order to study people’s activities and behavioral patterns in Place des Arts and to examine the democratic, social and spatial characteristics that promote the quality of public life and social and leisure activities that attract different groups of people to stay and enjoy together in this cultural public space, the tools including observation of current public life in Place des Arts, behavioral mapping, tracing, photography, semi-structured interviews with users and studying the development process of Place des Arts were used. The reason for selecting Montreal as the case study is because of its the vibrant public spaces. Montreal as a city of festivals has encouraged different groups of people to use public spaces and participate in cultural activities.

Due to the various cultures of immigrants, a large number of international students and tourists in this city, cultural and social events and activities help to engage different people in public spaces and sustain the social integrity. Place des Arts which is located in the heart of Montreal’s downtown often called the “event hall” of the city. Many festivals begin from or end in Place des

Arts. It has numerous cultural buildings. The main reason for choosing Place des Arts as the selected area for study is the huge number of users and to examine the role of art and culture in the dynamic public life. Because the area is too large for the observation, the specific areas were selected including the spaces in and around Jeanne-Mance, Saint Catherine and Saint Urbain

Streets and Maisonoeuve Boulevard.

28 Patricia Simões Aelbrecht, "Rethinking Urban Design for a Changing Public Life." Journal of Place Management and Development 3, no. 2 (2010): 118. doi:10.1108/17538331011062667.

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1.4.1 Observation

The observational study was done between 25 June and 31 July 2018 to achieve the research objectives, which included field observation, photographing, behavioral mapping and tracing.

Direct observations help with the understanding of the users’ preferences for using the spaces in

Place des Arts. The observations provided the main information on people behavior in Place des

Arts to investigate how people used the different spaces, where they walked, stayed and gathered and with whom. Gehl and Svarre argue that the social aspect of activities in city spaces should be carefully observed. “The need to see other people or simply to be in the same space as others, the need for social affirmation, to see what is going on” could be covered by observational studies.29

Observation helps to make “more clear hypotheses on the favorable social, experiential and spatial conditions for reading and mapping public social life.”30 This observational study covered general categories of people, such as adult groups of both males and females, children and elderlies who were in Place des Arts during the time of the observation.

1.4.1.1 Behavioral mapping

Behavioral mapping is one of the most useful methods to study public life. Different activities are indicated as symbols on a plan of the study area to mark the number, type and the place of activities.31 Mehta referring to theories in ecological psychology suggests that a helpful way to understand human needs on public spaces is empirically observing human behavior and

29 Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre, How to study public life (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013), 60-61 30 Patricia Simões Aelbrecht, “Rethinking Urban Design for a Changing Public Life.” Journal of Place Management and Development 3, no. 2 (2010): 115. doi:10.1108/17538331011062667. 31 Ibid., 23.

20 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni investigating perceptions of the users through behavior mapping and user interviews.32 Behavior mapping helps to examine the interaction between the spatial characteristics of the Place des Arts and people’s behaviors. It was used to depict the different ways people used Place des Arts and the diverse activities that took place in this public space, to see what people did in Place des Arts and where they socialized.

1.4.1.2 Tracing

This tool was used in order to document the pedestrian flow in Place des Arts. Because of the large scale of the study area, the most people’s movements are drawn in a plan of the area. Also, measuring walking speed and counting the number of people who entered the selected area are studied in the observation of Place des Arts. The pedestrian movements were the most impressionable behaviors in the pedestrian streets of Place des Arts. Physical changes such as intersections or loose spaces, urban furniture, temporary art insulations as well as the social and live happenings including movable statues, small street shows and many other attractions in

Place des Arts that affected pedestrian movements were studied with tracing. This tool was useful for the comparison of different types of people’s movements as well as the comparison of the pedestrian movements before and after the social events.

1.4.1.3 Photography

Photography is necessary to document the everyday life. It is the other tool that was used to show how Place des Arts spaces were used, because of the various activities that took place in this city space, photography was useful for documenting them, specially for those which happened suddenly or took a short time. It helped to illustrate the various behavioral patterns in different

32 Vikas Mehta, “Look Closely and You Will See, Listen Carefully and You Will Hear: Urban Design and Social Interaction on Streets”, Journal of Urban Design, 14:1, (2009): 31, DOI: 10.1080/13574800802452658.

21 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni situations in Place des Arts that showed the interaction between the spaces and the users.

Photography not only helped to share unique experiences of public life flowed in Place des Arts in the time of the observation, but it also helped to gain new information after studying the photos preciously as Gehl states:

“By later studying photographs or film, it is possible to discover new connections or to go

into detail with otherwise complex city situations that are difficult to fully comprehend

with the naked eye.”33

1.4.2 Semi-Structured Interviews

Series of 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people who visited, live or work in

Place des Arts in July 2018. “The semi-structured interview is a qualitative data collection strategy in which the researcher asks informants a series of predetermined but open-ended questions.”34 This method allows the interviewer to be prepared for asking questions and also allows the interviewee to feel free to express their opinions.35 While the questions, such as how the spaces in Place des Arts were used and where people preferred to socialize and stay for leisure could be covered by the observation, semi-structured interviews helped to explore the answers of the question ‘why’, as the reasons that people like to come to Place des Arts and spend time there. The use of this method provided a deep understanding of the people’s perceptions and also the hide problems in this public space. Although observations, photography and behavioral mapping were useful for obtaining the information of the uses, behavior, attractions and interactions among different spaces of Place des Arts and people, the semi-

33 Gehl and Svarre, How to study public life, 28. 34 Lisa M Given, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. 0 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2008. doi: 10.4135/9781412963909. 35 Deborah Cohen and Benjamin Crabtree B., “Qualitative Research Guidelines Project,” July 2006. http://www.qualres.org/HomeSemi-3629.html

22 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni structured interviews were the most useful method to gain the people’s attitudes toward this famous city space. For instance, through semi-structured interviews, I realized that some people from near cities to Montreal came to Place des Arts at least two days in a month to participate in social events or just to have a great day, while these kinds of information cannot be obtained by observation. Also, semi-structured interviews provided information from different user’s perspectives including the opinions of people who visit, live, work in Place des Arts or came from other cities in Canada or outside of it. For example, people who live or work in Place des

Arts had different experiences of the safety compared with visitors who usually used this public space in the morning.

The open-ended questions that were used in this research:

 What kinds of activities do you do in Place des Arts?

 What is your main method of transport to travel here?

 How often do you come here?

 How much do you think this area is suitable for you, according to your age and gender?

Why?

 Do you think this Place des Arts is a safe place? Why?

 What do you like or dislike about Place des Arts?

 Do you wish to live near this Place? Why?

1.4.3 Sampling

The convenience sampling was used for selecting people to participate in the interviews.

“Convenience sampling is a type of nonprobability sampling in which people are sampled simply

23 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni because they are “convenient” sources of data for researchers.”36 Due to a large number of people in Place des Arts, the sampling was considered to cover different age groups and gender as well as the workers and visitors in place des Arts.

1.5 Significance

Although in contemporary cities, many civic and social functions have transferred to virtual space people still use city spaces for necessary, social and optional activities. Studies illustrate that a “lively and diverse” public space is one of the significant features that people desire in their neighborhood.37 Studying public life and people’s behavior and perceptions are necessary for urban designers and planners to provide better and useful spaces for people with different age, gender and needs. Many researchers have emphasized the design guidelines while the dynamic public life in the users’ perspectives and people’s interests have not sufficiently been studied.

The development of Place des Arts causes some negative effects, such as segregating the mixed- use neighborhood and pushing the local residents out.38 It also decreases the “authenticity” because of the hard “acts of branding” city spaces.39 Thus, it is necessary to obtain users’ perceptions on Place des Arts to achieve a deeper understanding of culture-driven revitalization effects. As Elizabeth Currid states:

36 Paul J, Lavrakas, ed. Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods. Sage Research Methods Online. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 2008. 37 Vikas Mehta, “Look Closely,” 29-30. 38 Laurie Loison and Raphael Fischler, “The Quartier des spectacles, Montréal. In R. Thomas (Ed.), Planning Canada: A case study approach,” (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2016): 349. 39 Nik Luka, “Urban spectacular: A bold series of downtown plazas reintroduces vibrant urban life into spaces left over from postwar mega-projects,” Canadian Architect 58, no.2 (2013): 22. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/urban-spectacular

24 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

“Qualitative research depends on real people giving up their time to talk about the social and

economic phenomena that define their lives. Without willing participants, social scientists

would truly be at an impasse, unable to articulate the world with the same insight.”40

Because most creative districts are recent, the public life in these places have not precisely been studied; therefore, it is also important to investigate the attractions, perceptions and experiences in this public space in terms of large-scale events and everyday life in order to explore the impacts of the culture-driven revitalization on the interaction between people and the city space.

1.6 Chapter summaries

Chapter one states the objective of this research, methodology and the literature review on the creative city concept and its impacts on cultural regeneration as well as the review of public life studies. On the basis of this literature review, quality criteria for the observation of the city life in

Place des Arts and the semi-structured interview questions were selected. These criteria are the diversity of optional activities, how often people use this public space, comfort and safety.

However, because this research pursues the perceptions of the users in this urban space, the interview questions could vary according to the people’s perspectives.

In chapter two, the development process of Place des Arts and its objectives as well as the key actors, phases and the important features of this project are introduced. The main objective for

Place des Arts was to create a mixed-use cultural district; however, in practice, it became a high-

40 Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), xix.

25 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni quality public space for holding festivals, attracting visitors and investments and branding

Montreal internationally.

Chapter three states the data processing and analysis of the field observations and semi- structured interviews in order to explore the ways people use this urban space and their perceptions of it. Socializing, the possibility of doing different activities for all ages, the opportunity to participate in festivals and the proximity to various shops and public transport are the main reasons why people who live, visit or work in Place des Arts like it. However, these people have problems, such as too much security, gentrification, social polarization and low level of safety at night.

26 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Chapter 2

The development of Place des Arts

27 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Chapter 2: The Development of Place des Arts

2.1 The project Objectives

Today, Place des Arts represents the most cultural and dynamic city center of Montreal; it was intended to be developed as a city sector rather than just a group of cultural buildings. This sector is located in approximately one square kilometer in a downtown area called Quartier des

Spectacles.41 Its goal was to enhance the cultural development and increase the quality of the urban space (Figure 3-1).

Place des Art area

Selected study area

Figure 2-1- Perimeter of Place des Arts Sébastien Darchen and Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, “The local governance of culture-led regeneration projects: a comparison between Montreal and Toronto,” Urban Research & Practice 6, no.2 (2013): 40-157, DOI: 10.1080/17535069.2013.808433

41 Tremblay and Pilati, “Tohu and Artist-run Centres,” 337.

28 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

From the 1950s to the 1970s, road-widening, construction of the metro system, and the constructions of huge projects such as the Complex Desjardins and the 788-unit social-housing complex Habitations Jeanne-Mance segmented the area. By the 1970s, the sector had several abandoned areas and parking lots. These urban spaces were gradually used by summer festivals such as, the Montreal Jazz Festival and Just for Laughs in the 1980s that enhanced the indoor cultural atmosphere in this public space.42

Figure 2-2- Perspective of Place des Arts Retrieved from https://www.google.com/maps

This urban design project had as a principle objective the reasserting of the cultural identity of

Montreal through the developments that assure the maintenance and growth of artistic activities and festivals in the downtown area. The revitalization of the neighborhood and setting up of

42 Nik Luka, “Urban spectacular: A bold series of downtown plazas reintroduces vibrant urban life into spaces left over from postwar mega-projects.” Canadian Architect 58, no.2 (2013):18-22. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/urban-spectacular

29 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni conditions favorable to prestigious real estate projects was a noteworthy secondary objective.

The vision was to transform the neighborhood into a vibrant, convivial, attractive space that would be a permanent anchor for culture, and an international destination. The Programme

Particulier d'Urbanisme (PPU) has focused on real estate, economic, cultural and sustainable development in order to transform the neighborhood into a centralized downtown destination.43

Figure 2-3- A summer festival in Place des Arts Retrieved from https://blog.loewshotels.com

Tremblay and Pilati explain:

At the Montreal Summit in 2002, a consensus was reached on developing a project structured

around the idea of creating a district to promote the arts and position this district as a major

cultural center of Montreal and as a destination for international tourism. In 2003, the City,

the cultural promoters, the private and public landowners, and the large and small producers

43 Geradin, Thomas, Sebasstien P. Lafontaine, and Laurent Viel, “Études de cas en montage et gestion de projets d'aménagement: Le quartier des Spectacles- Secteur place des arts.” Montreal: Groupe de recherche IF, GRIF, Université de Montréal, 2010. http://www.grif.umontreal.ca

30 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

of the artistic milieu created the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership. It has aimed to bring a

joint vision of development and a comprehensive proposal to implement and organize

numerous projects (of the City of Montreal, the Government of Quebec or private investors)

by planning and integrating all cultural activities in the city.44 (Figure 3-4)

Figure 3-4- The milestone of the project Laurie Loison and Raphael Fischler, “The Quartier des spectacles, Montréal. In R. Thomas (Ed.), Planning Canada: A case study approach,” (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2016): 353.

2.2 Key actors and phases of the project

The Programme Particulier d'Urbanisme (PPU) had a number of key actors and speakers, notably on the cultural side. This required efficient communications between the partners during this fast-paced project. The management of the project was shared between the Bureau de gestion des grands projects de la Ville (BGGP), and Société Quartier International de Montréal (QIM), an

44 Tremblay and Pilati, “Tohu and Artist-run Centres,” 337.

31 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni external organization.45 The QIM and the BGGP, representing the client constitute the two pillars in the management of the project. The City of Montreal was the client of the project. The city was represented through its BGGP. This project was highlighted as a priority, so the management team would benefit from a strong political support in cohesion with the strategic plan of the city to position itself as a “cultural metropole”. The federal and provincial governments supported the project finically, giving up to $40M each. They did so because the project would contribute to the economic and cultural development of the city and province and would ameliorate the urban quality and the quality of life of the population.46

The Quartier International de Montreal (QIM) is a not-for-profit organization, without its own capital. Its mission is to develop urban projects for clients in the public sector, para-public, or private not-for-profit, with the goal of contributing to the sustainable improvement of the public domain. Its role in this project is to manage the budget and job contracts, to assure the distribution of correct documents, and to analyze and to transmit the responses from the city.

With SM-Génivar, the QIM is in charge of the supervision of construction sites throughout the realization of different phases of the sub-projects. The Société habitation et de développement de

Montreal (SHDM) was involved in the project because they were the property owners of some of the terrains targeted to be developed. They were delegated the management and realization of construction, using the company Dessau. Daoust-Lestage is an urban design and architecture firm that was under contract with the QIM for the project. They were involved in all sides and scales of the project. SM-Génivar was the principle engineering team of the project. They were under contract with the city. The Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles (PQDS), is a not-for- profit organization whose objective is to promote projects targeting the cultural identity of the

45 Geradin, Lafontaine and Viel, “Études,” 3. 46 Ibid., 4.

32 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni neighborhood. They were in charge in the running of, animation and promotion of the QDS and as representatives of a great number of key civil actors; they were used as consultants during the elaboration of the PPU, and remained as the consultants (Figure 3-5). Property owner and residents affected by the project were consulted from time to time during the development of the project. They played important roles in the harmonious realization of the different phases.47

Figure 3-5- The Government system for planning Place des Arts Laurie Loison, “Making the Creative City: A Case Study of the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal”, (Master thesis, McGill University, 2013): 63.

47 Ibid., 4.

33 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

The life cycle of the project consisted of four sub-projects (or phases) on top of each main phase, outlined in Figure 3-6. Each sub-project or phase, presents its own phase of conception, planning, and partial conclusion.

Phase 1A: The project management was delegated to the SHDM. They acted more as general manager and entrepreneur of the project. They gave the management and realization responsibility of construction to DESSAU. This was the largest sub-project, with a wide objective to host big outdoor concerts.48

Phases 1B through 4: The hearts of the temporary multi-organization were the BGGP of the city, the QIM, Daoust-Lestage, and SM-Génivar. With each sub-project, a general entrepreneur was chosen who then hired various sub-contractors. Phases 1B and 1C were the development of

Jeanne-Mance Avenue. They diminished the width of Jeanne Mance from 5 to 3 lanes. The southern portion (1C) was completed later. There would be installations of “vitrines habittées” in order to contrast with the blank wall of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal.49

Phase 2A created a space in front of the new Symphony Hall, by replacing Maisoneuve

Boulevard’s orthogonal plots. Phase 2B, The Promenade des Artistes, increased the space available for pedestrians. Phase 3B, interventions on Saint Catherine, transformed the street into a shared area, giving pedestrians more space. Phase 4, on l'Esplanade Clark, contributed a supplementary public area, and helped in the revitalization of Clark Street.50

48 Ville de Montréal, PROJET DE RÉAMÉNAGEMENT DU QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES, PREMIER RAPPORT D’AVANT-PROJET (2009):10. 49 Ibid.,11-16 50 Ibid., 12.

34 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-6- The phases of Place des Arts Geradin, Thomas, Sebasstien P. Lafontaine, and Laurent Viel, “Études de cas en montage et gestion de projets d'aménagement: Le quartier des Spectacles- Secteur place des arts,” Montreal: Groupe de recherche IF, GRIF, Université de Montréal, (2010): 3. http://www.grif.umontreal.ca

Conception phases: In 2002, The Association Québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) was called to formulate the main principles behind the project at the

Montreal summit. After the incubation phase, the conception phase began in 2007 when the QIM was mandated by the Ville Marie neighborhood for the procuration of the PPU. This phase preluded the global project; each sub-project required first its own planning phase and conception phase. Sometimes these all overlapped.51

51 Geradin, Lafontaine and Viel, “Études,” 7.

35 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Planning phase: it was insured by the BGGP and QIM. It involved four actives committees: pilot, direction, management and coordination. The planning of each sub-project included the determination of its needs, budgets, constraints, modes of supervision, and calendar.52

Realization phase: From January 2008 through May 2012, this phase was divided into parts four.

Each sub-project realization started in March and ended in May or during the summer of the following year. This phase was under the responsibility of the BGGP and QIM, excluding phase

1A, which was under the responsibility of the SHDM.53

Partial conclusion phases: There were a number of conclusions marked by the end of a number of contracts, even if the phase as a whole was not complete. These fell under the responsibility of the QIM, with the exception to phase 1A, which was realized by the SHDM.54

There were two key issues with the management of a project like the PPU: these of time and quality. The constructions had to be realized within a relatively short timeframe (four years), without intervening with festivals. The biggest technical problem was the superposition of development phases and the holding of events during the festivals. This was partially handled thanks to the sectioning the plan into sub-projects and the accelerated and strong management that allowed for quick starts and realization in between festivities periods. Then, the special needs of the festival organizers were a major technical problem. There was a need to install a large number of power outlets, notably two underground wells of 600V under the Place des

Festivals and to make them accessible to the festival technicians, all the while assuring public safety. Finally, technical difficulties arose during a meeting between the managers of the projet

52 Ibid.,7. 53 Ibid.,8. 54 Ibid.,8.

36 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni porte on the underground and the management of the networks of underground distributions. The

QIM had to run a triple evaluation of the ground (public utilities, archeology and coil contamination) in order to map out the entirety of the underground before beginning constructions.55

2.3 Accessibility

The PPU had for objective to improve the pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and the continuity of the urban subway between different sectors in order to ensure that all these sectors became destinations linked to one another, rather than existing just as transit sectors. The PPU aimed to enhance the traffic through the neighborhood. The area targeted for development was already well serviced by communal transportation services, like the metro and the bus. The space already had advantages, such as a high concentration of cultural buildings and events, two arteries with high potential, Saint Catherine Street and Saint Laurent Boulevard. The area also contained vacant lots and large streets with high development potential. Increasing the accessibility to the neighborhood would be beneficial to the neighborhood’s animation and already had the potential to be realized without major construction plans.56

The PPU outlined various interventions that would prioritize pedestrians and alternative modes of transport in accord with the plan de transport de Montreal. This had a greater goal: to incorporate sustainable development by favoring collective and active transport. There would be the installation of bike racks or bike rental stations, like Bixi, on the sidewalks or in the place of parking spots on the street. Favoring housing developments close to metro stations for a denser

55 Ville de Montréal, “PROJET,”.,8. 56 Ville de Montréal, “Programme Particulier d'Urbanisme: Quartier des spectacles. Secteur Place des Arts,” Biblioteque et Archives Nationales du Québec, (2007), 8.

37 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni neighborhood would make public transportation feasible. These interventions would be added on top of the bicycle lanes, and at the edge of the metro line that would cross the neighborhood via

Bleury Street. Accessibility and fluidity of transport were not only important for the neighborhood, they were also important between neighborhoods. The PPU had a plan to link the neighborhood to other downtown Montreal destinations. Interventions outlined by the PPU included giving priority to pedestrians and assuring the adequate support to the other modes of transport (collective, bike, automobile), reducing the size of certain streets (Jeanne-Mance, Saint

Urbain, Maisonoeuve boulevard), revising the north sector (President Kennedy), defining and putting in place parking management, increasing visibility and access to the metro, and making unified urban spaces in cohesion with the neighboring areas.57

Figure 3-7- The main streets in Place des Arts The base map retrieved from https://www.google.com/maps

57 Ibid., 8-13.

38 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

The objective of having fluid traffic and transit run the risk of being incompatible with making the public spaces accessible to the population of Montreal and its visitors. The physical geometry of the oversized large pavement arteries had enormous potential to become reinvented spaces.

Re-construction of the spaces would have as priority pedestrian pathways and a collective and active transport. The accessibility of Places des Arts in the Quartier des Spectacles relies on the notion of public place and its structuring effect. The greenery had to be maximized along the streets and on the walls and roofs to compensate for the large pavement areas (Figure 3-8) used for festivals. Public lighting was intended to increase the cultural identity of the neighborhood.58

Figure 3-8- The large pavement area Retrieved from https://www.mtlblog.com

This neighborhood was characterized by many buildings that had introverted proprieties (for example, Musee d'Art Contemporain, Complexe Desjardins), and by vacant lots and terrains that contributed to its de-structuration. The lack of animation in the streets, commercial discontinuity, and public spaces that were not squared off, all needed to be corrected. On top of that,

58 Ville de Montréal, “Programme,”19-20.

39 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni automobile routes constructed in the 1950 and 1960s as apart of big renovation operations, were characterized by oversized pavement roads and were unsavory and uninviting for pedestrians.59

The goal was to use the built environment to encourage a more extroverted and animated neighborhood, with residential, commercial, and cultural functions. Under the pressure of real estate development, the anchoring of cultural activities and festivals was fragile. Residential development was likely to provoke conflicts with festivals and recreation activities if it was not well realized. The PPU outlined a few interventions they could make in order for the neighborhood to be as a multi-functioning.60

The plan encouraged the whole population of Montreal to use this public space. So the area became a place where they could stroll, live, and appreciate the city, not only during festivals.

They wanted to conserve and give value to the built environment integrating what was already there, such as current residents and neighborhood culture, to encourage democratic growth rather than to impose a completely new system.

Pedestrians (residents and visitors) are the first to confront the quality of an urban form. The development should favor pedestrian transportation; this would support conviviality and tranquility among the residents of the neighborhood and a better experience for those visiting

(Figure 3-9). The development of footpaths, bicycle paths, the metro and underground connections was a way to restore commercial continuity. This would benefit the commercial functioning of the neighborhood as well as contribute to a better quality of life and create an attractive area.

59 Ibid., 21. 60 Ibid., 23-26.

40 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-9- The pedestrian street in Place des Arts (Place de Festivals) Retrieved from http://voss-photography.com

2.4 Democratic Characteristics of Place des Arts

2.4.1 Environment for All

The enhancement of the Quartier des Spectacles, linked with the other major tourist destinations of Montreal would impact Montreal’s potential in terms of cultural tourism, the welcoming of foreign students, and the global consolidation of the downtown’s image.61 It was imperative to help turn this neighborhood into mixed functions in order to accommodate the needs of different groups the neighborhood would like to service, such as present and future residents, workers, and tourists. The PPU had the goal to conserve cultural activities and to develop new ones.62 In the context of increased property values and gentrification, it would have a tendency to exclude these cultural activities and the local artists. This is why the principle level of intervention was done on public property, which allowed planning the development on a full economic logic

61 Ibid., 9. 62 Ibid., 9.

41 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni rather than on how profitable the project would be.63 To maintain cultural activities that were linked to artists, it had to facilitate the inter-financing of each building, by adequately dividing between private commercial activities, cultural vendor stands, and the preservation of certain cultural activities. Financially innovative solutions aimed to support cultural activities in the threat of increased real estate values.64 However, this goal has been changed in a long time and emerging artists cannot afford increased values and gradually leave the district.

The neighborhood is host to a diversity of functions: cultural, commercial, institutional, offices, residential, all of which add to its current interest and development potential. The area had to rely on the growth of urban tourism, and the neighborhood had to target new demographics of clientele: like tourists, members of cultural communities, and the youth. The neighborhood had to adapt to offer culturally rich experience to this new clientele and brand itself. The Quartier des

Spectacles’ tourists belong to different age groups are the baby boomers (ages 45-60) and have disposable income that can be put towards these types of cultural trips. They can also relay information concerning their experience to their peers; if satisfied they could promote the area.

The other group is generation X (ages 25-45); this generation values trips, new experiences and change. Youth (ages 16-24) are often underestimated; they represent more than 20 percent of international travelers. They may have less disposable income, but they do participate and communicate more on social media, which has a real-life impact on how Montreal can be seen as a vibrant and up-and-coming city. This sort of publicity influences future potential tourists, politicians, students, and even investors.65

63 Ibid., 10. 64 Ibid., 10. 65 Ibid., 9.

42 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

The establishment of the Quartier des Spectacles as an international cultural destination would attract multiple tourists and potentially derive economic benefit associated with their presence.66

To optimize this potential, the PPU outlined in their plan that the neighborhood should be an essential part of the downtown area. Pedestrian links, underground and above, and communal transportation routes should be developed rapidly. The best possible accessibility from all modes of transport, individual, or collective, would encourage the tourists to come.67 The large number of tourists in Place des Arts increases the prices as one of the interviewee who works there said:

“Here it is little overpriced since there are a lot of tourists, especially in food trucks during festivals. Rent is pretty high here.”68

For the Quartier des Spectacles to be a truly inclusive and open space, there was a certain emphasis placed on the need to overcome the notion, that “tolerance” and “inclusivity” are the same. “Tolerance” implies established cultural power dynamics, where by the cultural elite tolerate temporary minorities. 69 An all-inclusive cultural space accepts different cultural aspects as part of the fabric as their own. This is why the Quartier des Spectacles’ defining qualities had to be dynamic and multi-faceted and avoid developments that rendered it too homogeneous. A homogeneous neighborhood would not reflect the different demographics and cultural qualities that make Montreal.70

If the objective and vision of Places des Arts as a fully inclusive, democratic, accessible, and lively cultural destination are realized, we should observe a balance between the management

66 Ibid., 9. 67 Ibid., 40. 68 Interview with C.G. 69 Nik Luka, Pierre-Étienne Gendron, Jaimie Cudmore and Vladimir Mikadze. “Le Quartier des spectacles et le chantier de l'imaginaire Montréalais.” Chapitre 8: Pour un Urbanisme des possibles dans le Quartier des Spectacles. (Presse de l'Université Laval, 2015): 187. 70 Ibid., 189.

43 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni and appropriation of the public spaces. This means we should be able to observe the mix of formal and informal installations, the hybridization of existing dynamics with those that are longed for, and the juxtaposition between monumental interventions against more humble ones.71

Place de Arts would welcome organized events such as festivals but also welcome protests organized by Montrealers.

Figure 3-9- Women's March at Place des Arts, January 20th, 2018. Kendall McGowan and Navneet Kaur (2018), Retrieved from http://www.mcgilltribune.com

2.4.2 The Problems Associated with Gentrification

Public administration and economic actors try to market their city to attract more investments and people by branding. “Hard branding” alters the symbolic and physical attributes of a place to create a unique tourist experience. Although this approach pursues attractive public spaces, it diminishes the qualities of real vibrant community by exclusion of marginal populations.72 While

71 Ibid., 192. 72 Sara Cameron and Helene Bélanger, “Home territories and the atmosphere of spectacle: the experience of residents living in and around Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles - A phenomenological inquiry,” International Congress on Ambiances, (Montreal, International Ambiances Network, 2012): 360.

44 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Luka introduces Place des Arts as a successful urban revitalization project because of the strategic planning and multi-stakeholder collaboration, he suggests that it causes the decrease of

“authenticity” because of the hard “acts of branding” in this city space.73 However, he does not sufficiently explain how the urban revitalization process could improve a neighborhood without risking the harmful effects of gentrification. He also explains that the other concern about this place is “the locking-down of public space for profit-oriented corporate-run cultural and entertainment enterprises.” 74 The interview with one of the workers in a food truck helps to explore the branding effects on the social environment of Place des Arts

“Everything is good as long as you have money. Here is a consumer-oriented place. It has profit for big companies. It is a marketplace to brand Montreal by hiding problems. They push homeless people out. It does not have social integrity. The planners should let the other festivals be held in the other neighborhoods as well, while we pay taxes.” 75

Loison and Fischler studied the history of the gradual changes in Montreal’s Quartier des

Spectacles. They argue that although Place des Arts was planned to increase the social and cultural activities in the city, it segregated the mixed-use neighborhood and pushed local residents out. They explain that the rise of illicit and criminal activities, together with the huge building constructions, drove the middle class away from the Faubourg Saint-Laurent in the

1940s and 1950s. Mega structures and empty lots changed Faubourg Saint-Laurent physically.

Also, this vibrant mixed-use neighborhood was transformed into different areas with a more segregated population. Over time, students concentrated in the Quartier Latin, low-income residents made the Habitation Jeanne-Mance their own, and a marginal population continued to

73 Nik Luka, “Urban spectacular,” 22. 74 Ibid., 22. 75 Interview with Y.P.

45 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni inhabit or frequent the red-light district near Boulvard Saint-Laurant. West of the Boulvard

Saint-Laurant , there was no neighborhood, between performances at Place des Arts, summer festivals in surrounding empty lots, and office work in nearby towers. The local residential life had pretty much disappeared. 76 Loison and Fischler also emphasize municipalities’ reliance on property taxes, but they suggest no solutions for the problems associated with gentrification.

2.4.3 Practical Limitation of Creative City Concept

One of the development factors is the level of innovation of each society. Creativity is a resource for recreational activity. It promotes social and economic growth by providing a competitive platform for organizations and developers.77 Artists and professionals gather in city spaces that are open to cultural diversity; therefore, spaces where culture, history and shared communities come together have a major potential for socio-economic growth.78

Jacobs explains that diversity and exchanges of ideas play an important role in the creation of a powerful and dynamic urban vitality.79 Culture and creativity became the emerging opportunity for cities to enhance their economic competitiveness.80 Florida has the most influence on the concept of “creative cities”. He considers it as the idea that attracting and retaining talents

(professionals, people from cultural and artistic communities as well as the education and training sectors) are key processes for the economic development of today’s cities. This class of

76 Laurie Loison and Raphael Fischler, “The Quartier des spectacles,” 351.

77 Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay and Thomas Pilati, “Tohu and Artist-run Centres in Montreal: Contributions to the Creative City?” Canadian Journal of Regional Science 2 (2007): 337-356. 78 Richard, Florida. “Cities and the Creative Class.” City & Community 2, no.1 (2003): 3–19. 79 Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Vintage Books, 1961). 80 Sébastien Darchen and Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay. “The local governance of culture-led regeneration projects: a comparison between Montreal and Toronto.” Urban Research & Practice 6, no.2 (2013): 141. DOI: 10.1080/17535069.2013.808433

46 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni people tends to gather into communities and in particular cool city-centers where the population is open to multiculturalism.81

Although many urban planners and policymakers try to invest in and generate their city on the basis of this creative city concept, their strategies put emphasis on public-private partnerships and branding their city spaces according to increased security and gentrification.82 Darchen and

Tremblay studied some cultural-led regenerations; they suggest that the social effects on city dwellers should be considered in these projects. These kinds of projects should be beneficial for

“economic competitiveness” as well as the social integrity.83 “Soft infrastructure”, that is, people, skills, social networking and the cluster of “happening places”, is the important context for cultural development rather than physical facilities.84 Currid explains that arts and the cultural community depend on the “organic, social and face-to-face interaction facilitated by location clustering.” Currid argues that in the rapid process of gentrifying creative districts, artists are forced to move to different parts of city where are less expensive. As a result, they become far away from each other and this dies their vibrant group creativity.85

The social dynamic of creative district in a long period of time should be considered in the first phases of the planning and in a wider vision in order to support the creativity and social cohesion.86 In the development of Place des Arts, the creative city concept was used by concentrating cultural activities to enhance the creation of more cultural firms and artist-run

81 Richard Florida, Cities and the Creative Class (New York, NY: Routledge, 2005), 5-6. 82 Rowland Atkinson and Hazel Easthope, 2009. The Consequences of the Creative Class: The Pursuit of Creativity Strategies in Australia's Cities. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(1): 76. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00837.x 83 Darchen and Tremblay, “The local governance,” 142. 84 Adam Brown, Justin O'Connor and Sara Cohen, “Local music policies within a global music industry: cultural quarters in Manchester and Sheffield”, Geoforum 31, no 4 (2000): 445-446, DOI:10.1016/S0016-7185(00)00007-5. 85 Currid, Warhol Economy, x-xi. 86 Laurie Loison, “Making the Creative City: A Case Study of the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal”, ( Master thesis, Mcgill University, 2013), 33.

47 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni centers. Places des Arts is a platform to facilitate the interaction between artists and ordinary people. This place brings an opportunity for joining in the city space and gathering. As Tremblay and Pilati state:

“…the success and sustainable development of this project had to be based on a model of

the “proactive cultural district”. In fact, the integrated system of independent and

complementary clusters of cultural activity and the creation of an urban cultural climate

conducive to exchanges of information between the community and the territory, suggest

that this district could produce new ideas and innovations based on its creativity and,

thus, transform into an important space with a cultural vocation.”87

They explain that consumption not only is related to basic needs but also is connected with

“identity capital” that relies on the individual’s capability to achieve new ideas about personality.

Artists’ roles have significant effects on society. Projects planned to promote the “territorial economy” as well as to encourage community participation for a long time should be priorities in urban development in order to create “social cohesion”.88

Artists’ performances, cultural activities, festivals, suitable accessibility and the high quality of pedestrian streets make Place des Arts attractive for people to gather in this public space and enjoy the city life. The next chapter investigates the users’ perceptions, experiences, problems and the ways people use the spaces in Place des Arts in order to practically explore the impacts of the development of Place des Arts on the interaction between people and this city space as well as the social and spatial characteristics that make the public life vibrant.

87 Tremblay and Pilati, “Tohu and Artist-run Centres,” 351. 88 Ibid., 353.

48 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Chapter 3

The Users’ Experiences and Perceptions of Place des Arts

49 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Chapter 3: The Users’ Experiences and Perceptions of Place des Arts

3.1 The Spatial and Social Characteristics of Place des Arts

This Chapter presents the data processing and analysis of the field observations and semi- structured interviews in order to explore the spatial and social characteristics of Place des Arts, the behavioral patterns and the ways people used Place des Arts, their perceptions of this urban space, the reasons that they like or dislike it and the information about how often they come to this public space. The different social and optional activities, pedestrian movements, stationary activities and the changes before and after social events were studied. By using photos and behavioral maps, this research tries to visualize the observations. Some quotations from interviews provide the deep insights into people’s perceptions.

3.1.1 Social Activities and Behavioral Patterns

The optional activities usually people do in Place des Arts are eating, drinking, reading, napping and resting, listening to music, talking with each other, shopping, taking photos, working with cell phones and watching other people. Kids were playing in the water fountain area under the supervision of their parents sitting on the steps. A young mother who came with her kids to Place des Arts said: “My kids are free to do whatever they want here”89. Some other people became interested in watching the kids’ play and took pictures of them (Figure 3-1).

Figure 3-1- Kids were playing in the water fountain in Place de des Arts

89 Interview with X.C

50 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

3.1.2 Stationary Activities

The black point in figure 3-2 shows the places where people preferred to sit. If there were seats people used them and sat same as what Whyte in his observational studies concluded the more seats, the more people sitting. Most of the seats were fully occupied; at first, the more comfortable seats were occupied, the ones that have backs and then other “secondary seats” like steps.

Sitting Figure 3-2- The places where people preferred to sit.

Mehta in his observational studies found that benches, chairs and tables also used for other purposes than sitting and public seating near businesses support stationary activities used much more than those without such businesses.90 Some restaurants in Saint Catherine Street provided

90 Vikas Mehta, “Look Closely,” 44-45.

51 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni seats in front of their store. People tended to sit near the stores that they shopped food or drinks, as Mehta explains that eating and drinking are the activities usually accompanied by relaxation and socializing.91 The steps, in Saint Catherine Street and in Jeanne-Mance, provide this opportunity (Figure 3-3 and 3-4). People ate specially ice cream in the hot summer, drank, talked to each other or watched the other people and what was happening. These steps became more attractive when a short street show performed in front of them. According to Gehl’s studies in city seats, the more view of city life in sitting spaces, the more people.92 This comparison was completely observed between the two mentioned steps and the other one in figure 3-5 which did not have a view to pedestrian movement while people were sitting; therefore, the presence of people was too low. As it is depicted in figure 3-2 through 3-6 the “edge effect” was observed;

People sat in the edges that faced to pedestrian movement or activities.

Figure 3-3 -The steps near businesses in Jeanne-Mance Street before and during a street show

91 Ibid., 46. 92 Gehl, Cities for People,25.

52 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-4 -The steps near businesses in Saint Catherine Street that have a rich view to the pedestrian movements

Figure 3-5- The steps over the entrance of Place des Arts (building) that has no view to the city life while people were sitting

53 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

In order to create more comfort and space for sitting, some temporary interventions, such as the wooden pieces on the steps and the temporary wooden deck on the green space were added.

Again, the more comfortable seats that had backs were used at first (Figure 3-6).

Figure 3-6- The wooden pieces added to the steps (top), the deck added for more seats (down)

54 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Many people sat on the grass or even in the middle of the pedestrian street to hang out with their friends. People were usually sitting in groups and socializing in a reasonable social distance

(about 1.5m) from others (Figure 3-7). The more informal, comfortable sitting spaces and those with the richer view of the city life were much more used. The tree’s trunks were used as props on the grass. People even lay down on the green spaces or on the steps to rest (Figure 3-8).

Figure 3-7- People sat on the ground in the middle of the pedestrian street (top), the groups of people sat in a reasonable distance from other groups (down)

55 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-8- People sat on the spaces that provided more comfort and view

56 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Several temporary and moveable seats were provided during festivals (Figure 3-9). Movable seats allow people to change their location based on their needs or favors. Movable seats, proximity to food and drink, informality, comfort, less control on people’s behaviors and the opportunity for selecting or changing the situation were features that promoted passive social interactions, such as watching, hearing and smiling as well as the active engagement like talking among people in the sitting spaces in Place des Arts; as a 75-year-old man said: “I like the

Figure 3-9- The movable and temporary seats provided chances for passive interactions

57 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni faces.” He explained that there is no reason to stay home when I have nothing to do, while I can come to Place des Arts and see different people. Although he was not interested in festivals, he came there every day just for being in this public space.93 “There are many shows. You can sit down and enjoy the day here.”94 The pool was one of the popular places for different kinds of people (Figure 3-10). Kids played and adults touched or walked in the water. The steps at the border of the pool acted as a meeting and conversation hall for people. They also consumed food.

Figure 3-10- The steps at the border of the pool used as a gathering place

93 Interview with P.L. 94 Interview with X.C.

58 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Another stationary activity observed was young people hangouts in Place des Arts, specially at the props with the view of the pool ( Figure 3-11). As Gehl explains, these kinds of places act as meeting places for active contacts among people.95 Some other people were watching the kids playing in the water while they were resting at the prop.

Figure 3-11- The prop as a gathering place

95 Gehl, Cities for People, 22.

59 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Curbs beside the pedestrian streets were used as secondary sitting spaces (Figure 3-12). Eating or drinking, talking with friends, resting and working with cellphones were activities that people did when they were sitting on the curbs. Some people used their own flexible chairs to rest and watching the pedestrian flows in the edges.

Figure 3-12- The Curbs as the sitting spaces, Maisonneuve boulevard (Top) and Saint-Urbain Street (down)

60 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Although an area with a suitable view to shows was restricted for wheelchair accsses, the number of people using wheelchairs was very low during festivals (Figure 3-13). This number was low in common days as well dkuring the time of the observation. One of the reasons for it is that the metro station, as a popular transport mode, in Place des Arts does not have an elevator. People with a stroller had the problem to accsses to the upstairs in Sainte-Catherine Sreet (Figure 3-14) because there was not a ramp. A young new mother reffering to this problem siad: “The accessibility for new moms with a stroller is hard, I cannot go upstairs.”96

Figure 3-13- The risticted area for people with wheelchairs

Figure 3-14- No ramp for wheelchair or stroller accsess in the steps in Sainte-Catherine Sreet

96 Interview with K.O.

61 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

3.1.3 Public Plays

Games and plays are the other social activities that attracted people to gather in this public space and enjoy their time. Many free game booths located in Place des Arts to promote lively city experiences for users. The different games were suitable for all ages and family members (Figure

3-15 and 3-16). Performing temporary games encouraged different people to interact with each other. People were interested in participating in the social activities took place in Place des Arts.

The comfort and informality of the games’ spaces turned these public spaces into the friendly living room for families, friends and even strangers. Many people blonged to different age groups explained “Here it is beautiful. There are lots to see and good events.”97 “Something always is going on. There are a lot of people and activities so it is fun.”98 “This place is close to everything, secure, clean and available for all; you see families. There are lots of activities to do.”99 However, some other people found the games more suitable for kids. A 47-year-old man said: “I come here for my little girl. She can play a lot here and likes it very much. It is a family- oriented place, but it is not so attractive for me.”100

Figure 3-15- Free Game as a social setting for gathering families and friends as well as strangers

97 Interview with S.R 98 Interview with V.S 99 Interview with J.F & D.B 100 Interview with A.V.

62 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-16- The oppurtunities to play for different age groups of people in Place des Arts

63 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

3.1.4 Pedestrian Movements

The pedestrian movements were the most impressionable behaviors in the pedestrian streets in

Place des Arts. Physical changes such as intersections or loose spaces in the streets, urban furniture, temporary art insulations as well as the social and spontaneous happenings including live statues and some small street shows in Place des Arts affected pedestrian movements. These changes and the pedestrians’ behaviors were studied with tracing during the time of the observation. As it is presented in figure 3-17 and 3-18, the main pedestrian movements are in

Saint Catheriene Street and Jeanne Mance Street. These Streets have more green spaces, shops, restaurants and seats. The pedestrian movements were relatively straight. Maisonneuve

Boulevard and Saint Urbain Street were banned from automobiles during the festivals; thus, the pedestrian movements changed. Many opportunities, such as temporary seats, game booths, street shows and food trucks encouraged people to participate, stay and enjoy their time in Place des Arts. As a result, the pedestrian movements became wavy and people used more spots for stationary activities and socializing.

Figure 3-17- The pedestrian movments in Saint Cather iene Street

64 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Stationary activity

Large number of pedestrians

Few pedestrians

Figure 3-18- The main pedestrian movements before (top) and during (down) a social event

65 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

During a show, the number of people who entered Jeanne-Mance Street in 5 minutes was 140.

This number was 70 when there was not any performance in a same time of the following day.

Many people were walking with a stroller. The average velocity of a person who was walking was 1 m/s, while it was 0.78 m/s for a person who was walking with a stroller. The pedestrian movements had many pauses if there was an attraction. Street shows, live statues, food trucks, seats and other people’s gathering changed the direction of the pedestrians’ movement or attracted the pedestrians and made pauses in their movements. As figure 3-19 depicts, the showman attracted the people’s attention when he was preparing for his show. After 5 minutes, the large numbers of pedestrians were interested in the show and stopped to watch and the presence of other people attracted more people. The food trucks and temporary seats and tables made the place denser and attractive to spend time. The chance to watch the shows from the beside building’s terrace at the upper level made gather more people. The same story is for figure

3-20. The single woman acted as an immobile statue and gathered the huge attention in 5 minutes. According to Gehl and Mehta’s observations, doing the same activity or watching an event together in public spaces increase the possibility of social interactions among people.

According to the semi-structured interviews many people like to be in Place des Arts because of the social activities and presence of several people. “This place is incredible. I have never seen another city with a place like this. The urban design of this place is very nice.”101 “ There are a lot of people, events and good restaurants. I think this place brings everyone together.”102 “I come from Quebec City. Before, I was going there every weekend, but now I am more involved in the events [in Place des Arts].”103

101 Interview with N.B. 102 Interview with S.O. 103 Interview with G.D.

66 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure3-19- The street show and the presence of the other people attracted the pedestriams

67 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Figure 3-20-The live statue made changes in the pedestrian movements in 5 minutes

68 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

The other factors that affected the pedestrian movement were artistic and live happenings, such as playing music, drawing a caricature, shows and mobile statues. These artistic activities gathered people of different age groups, gender and class together in Place des Arts and made passive and active contacts among them (Figure 3-21). However, some of these artists were talking about their poor financial situations during their short street shows.

Figure 3-21- Artistic performances in Place des Arts and people gathering

69 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

3.1.5 Experiences and Perceptions

Many people from Montreal, other cities in Canada and outside of it come to this city space and participate in the summer festivals. More than half of the people who were interviewed come to this place once or twice a week. Some people who live in the towns near Montreal come to Place des Arts at least twice a month to participate in social events or have a fun day. People belong to different age groups (Figure 3-22). An 88-year-old woman believes that “Always something happens here. It has a very nice environment. It is a good place for all, old people and young ones.”104 A shopkeeper who works in Place des Arts also said: “It is a family and friendly place.

There are many different stores, restaurants, a lot of activities and it is a really open space. It is very nice.”105 A person who works in an ice cream shop said: “Although there is a huge amount of work to do during festivals, I like tourists and it is fun to see different people and try to guess who is from where. I also have many nice friends who work here.”106

Figure 3-22- People with different ages were interested in street shows in Place des Arts

104 Interview with M.R. 105 Interview with C.G. 106 Interview with A.C.

70 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Through the interviews, some people compared Place des Arts with the public spaces in their countries and concluded that this place is attractive to enjoy time spent there because of the festivals and interesting events that have been held there for a long time (not only one or two days). They would like to have such a place in their city. “We compare this place with France; we do not have a kind of place there to promote. Two weeks for a festival are large amount of time so it is good.”107 A 50-year-old woman explains, “The difference between here and Vietnam is too high; we do not have a similar interesting place.”108 “I love here. Compared with my country, here it has a more social life. You see people smiling.”109

Among interviewees, the young people, who are in 18 to 29 ages, had the highest tendency to live near Place des Arts in comparison with other age groups. Being among other people, socializing, the possibility of doing different activities for all ages, and being close to various stores, restaurants and the metro station were the main reasons why people liked Place des Arts.

3.1.6 The Desire to Live near Place des Arts

Some people did not wish to live near Place des Arts because of the commercial atmosphere; they preferred to live in a small community. “It is a place for amusement not for living, 24 hours.”110 Other people are not interested in living near Place des Arts because they would have to live in apartments if they move there. They would rather live on a large piece of land. “There are not enough green spaces. It is noisy and it has many towers.”111 “I like a quiet place for

107 Interview with B.W. 108 Interview with O.D. 109 Interview with V.S. 110 Interview with M.R. 111 Interview with Y.P.

71 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni living.”112 “If I live here, I will shop a lot; I cannot control myself to not shopping. Here it is too much noisy as well.”113 People who live in small towns did not wish to live in the city because of the large scale of urban infrastructures and crowdedness. They preferred to come to Place des

Arts for vacations.

However, some other people liked to live near Place des Arts because they found it much more interactive than far districts. “You can socialize easily. It is in downtown and you are close to everything. The restaurants and bars are open until late in the night.”114 “There is always something to do here.”115 “If the rent could be less expensive and you had more space to live, I would like to live near Place des Arts.”116 “Here it is near to the subway, shops, and grocery stores. There are lots of activities to do.”117 “I like to live near Place des Arts because I can easily use these facilities and programs.”118 “You are close to everything. There are a lot of activities until night, specially in summer.”119 “I like to live close to downtown because I do not want to spend a long time in the way between my home and my work but if I lived near here, I would have to buy expensive food and other stuff.”120

3.2 The Method of Transport

50 percent of the people who were interviewed use the metro as their main method of transport to travel to or from Place des Arts. The interesting point is that 90 percent of the interviewees use public transportation or come by foot or bicycle to access Place des Arts.

112 Interview with A.D. 113 Interview with N.N. 114 Interview with A.R. 115 Interview with S.O. 116 Interview with G.D. 117 Interview with A.C. 118 Interview with S.K. 119 Interview with C.G. 120 Interview with M.D.

72 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

3.3 Safety and Protection

When more people move or stay in city spaces, “there are more eyes along the streets.” As a result, the level of safety increases. Attractive public spaces, various kinds of activities and short walking distances in urban spaces increase the feeling of security.121 Because of the high presence of people and businesses in Place des Arts, this public space is a relatively safe place specially in the morning. Among interviewees, the people who live near Place des Arts or are visitors there, including national or international ones, agree on the high level of safety in the

Place des Arts area. “It is a safe place for me and for my kids. They enjoy a lot.”122 However, the people who work there have a different opinion. These people did not rate “greatly” for safety.

They explain that the area is not safe much at late in the night. A young lady who works there every weekday, rates it “not much” for safety at night. “It is fine at days but a lot of sexual comments happen at night; when I work or close the door of the shop. Sometimes they are really aggressive.”123 The other shopkeeper who is a 26-year-old man also said: “There are a lot of people. I think there is not any chance for annoying or anything. Until midnight, it is a safe place.”124 Another young man who works at Place des Arts also said: “At night, it is less safe than during the day.”125

The other problems related to safety are the high level of security checks and the entrances to the area were completely checked for security during festivals, lack of shelters for protection among wind in winter and general drive habit in Montreal. A man from Ontario complained about the driving habits in Montreal; “The way people drive is offensive and the worst in Canada; so I do

121 Gehl, Cities for People, 26. 122 Interview with M.R. 123 Interview with A.C. 124 Interview with C.G. 125 Interview with M.D.

73 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni not feel safe here.”126 “Here, it has so much security. In winter, there is not any shelter to protect people from wind.”127 “In winter, I come here [Place des Arts] less because there are no festivals or activities, so it is like a big open space with nobody.”128 Although some events are held in winter in place des Arts and many art insulations are used there to promote social life, this public space is not as attractive as summer time (Figure 3-23). The interviewee explained they come for shopping, cafés and restaurants in winter but they do not like to be outside in cold weather for a long time.

Figure 3-23- The low presence of people in Place des Arts in winter

3.4 Problems in the Users’ Perspectives

A couple who liked Place des Arts “Moderately” explained that they liked the restaurants, shops and the good atmosphere, but they complained about the crowdedness of it during festivals and that they were not able to see shows.129

126 Interview with M.A. 127 Interview with Y.P. 128 Interview with C.G. 129 Interview with B.W.

74 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

“It needs more seats during events; specially, for elderlies it is hard to stand for a long time to watch shows. It is hard to park here.”130

“Some events are held very late at night, so you have to sit and listen to music until 12 a.m. It would be better if the shows started earlier.”131

“Some restaurants and cafés are too small. We must stand in a line for a long time.”132

“Some of the events and shows are not attractive for me; some of them are in French, too, that I cannot understand, so they are not useful for me. If there was a specific media for the all events held in this area, it would be better.”133

“I like that there are culture and different people. Sometimes it is too crowded, but I like to spend my time here. I wish it had more green spaces. Things are too expensive here. This neighborhood is for rich people. Look at this place, we are selling hotdogs for 10 Dollars; it is particular! The festivals are free; that is nice but they try to get you in other ways. I want free festivals but I do not also want expensive food and drinks.”134

A 23-year-old man who sells ice cream in a small spot in Place des Arts said: “I work here every day from 11a.m. to 11 p.m. I never have a chance to experience festivals.”135

3/5 Findings

The sitting behavior directly connects with socializing. It usually accompanies other behaviors,

130 Interview with G.D. 131 Interview with P.L. 132 Interview with N.B. 133 Interview with S.K. 134 Interview with M.D. 135 interview with A.D.

75 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni such as eating, drinking, talking, reading, listening, watching the pedestrian flows and urban spaces, napping and resting. The more comfortable seats are used much more than the others.

The possibility of changing the location of seats makes more comfort for gathering. The spaces that are not designed for sitting are also popular for sitting or stationary activities, such as the steps, props, the border of the pool and green spaces. The proximity of sitting spaces with shops, specially those offer food and also with natural elements like water or trees and having the richer view of city life make more passive and active interaction among people and as a result more life in these sitting spaces. These spaces are usually used by the groups of people. The opportunities to play for different age groups of people encourage people to use and stay in public spaces.

Many attractions, such as events, art and game booths, street performances of artists, food trucks, artistic and live happenings, such as playing music, drawing caricatures, shows and mobile statues affect the pedestrian movements and encourage people to participate, stay and enjoy their time in Place des Arts. The most attractive factors for people, with different age, gender and class, to like this public space are the presence of other people, socializing, the possibility of doing different activities and the proximity to the different shops, restaurants and public transportation, high quality of the urban space and city furniture and the accessibility by bicycle and walk .

The lack of protection against wind, the low level of safety at night, the consumption-based atmosphere, the high rate of the prices and rent and the shortage of green spaces are the problems in the users’ views in Place des Arts.

76 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Conclusion

By focusing on observing current public life in Place des Arts, the semi-structured interviews with users and studying the development process of Place des Arts, this paper attempts to explore what makes the experiences in Place des Arts comfortable and interesting for its users and how people use this public space for social activities and interactions. This research determines the democratic, social and spatial characteristics of Place des Arts that promote the quality of public life and social activities that attract different groups of people to stay and enjoy together in this cultural public space.

Democratic characteristic of public space studied with the focus on features that provide the city space as an environment for all groups of people, “a setting that brings people together” and a place that people can meet other people and learn other opinions. 136 Although the main objective for Place des Arts development was to create a mixed-use cultural district that would be an environment for all; in practice, it became a high-quality public space for holding festivals, attracting visitors and investments and branding Montreal internationally. Wealthier residents gradually moved in the area surrounding Place des Arts. Also, the high presences of tourists and advertising for the area at the international level have caused an increase in rent and property value. Therefore, Place des Arts has become a high-tech platform for festivals and the profitable place for companies without a social mix balance and connectivity with its neighborhood. Small artists’ groups or cultural communities cannot afford the rent or participating in the large-scale performances. Although the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership has encouraged many independent artists through several public art insulations at different times in the year, it needs more support for emerging artists in order to achieve the inclusive creative district.

136 Appleyard and Jacobs, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto, 12-13.

77 City life in Place des Arts Mahsa Mozayeni

Social and spatial characteristics of Place des Arts was studied by analyzing the different social activities and behavioral patterns, such as the stationary activities, pedestrian movements and public plays and their interactions with the spaces in Place des Arts. Many people from

Montreal, other cities in Canada and outside of it came to this city space and participate in the festivals and social activities. The spaces with more comfort and informality made more passive and active interactions among people. Through 27 interviews with people who came to Place des

Arts, many of them, ages 20 to 88, liked, visited and stayed in this public space even if they were not interested in the festivals. Being among other people, socializing, artists’ performances, live happenings, the possibility of doing different activities for all ages, participating in festivals and being close to various stores, restaurants and the metro station were the main reasons why people liked Place des Arts. Among these attractions in the users’ perspectives, being with other people and cultural events were the most interesting reason that people came and use this public spaces, as Currid by referring to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Lucas mentioned great cities attract people although they are noisy and expensive. That is because of the human beings’ desire to be with other people. It is the social nature of people and creativity that makes the city life essential to art and culture.137

Place des Arts is a high-quality cultural-based public space that is successful in attracting visitors, branding Montreal internationally and holding large-scale events. It is an urban platform for socializing, doing many social activities and being with other people. However, it does not have a community-based atmosphere. The problems associated with gentrification, too much security and the commercial environment are factors that prevent Place des Arts from being all inclusive.

137 Currid, Warhol Economy, 3.

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The future studies on public life in Place des Arts can be done in winter time in order to compare with summer conditions. Also, further long-term studies from the artists’ perspectives and also other neighborhood residents certainly help to analyze Place des Arts in a wider context in order to achieve the all inclusive, people-oriented and cultural-based development.

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