Territorial cultural commons and COVID-19: The case of the Saint-Michel neighbourhood in Montreal
Starting with the early 2000s, culture has become an important element of the development strategies of the Saint-Michel neighbourhood in Montreal. These strategies have led to the emergence of a mode of governance for cultural dynamics that brings together cultural, political and community actors. Coordinated by the Table métropolitaine sur la culture, cultural events in the neighbourhood are developed and managed collectively. The neighbourhood’s cultural dynamics have been influenced by the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, the latter has been a source of innovation for the actors of Saint-Michel. The communalized cultural response to the problems caused by the pandemic served as an opportunity to enhance the neighbourhood’s “socioterritorial” capital. The notion of the territorial cultural commons (TCC) allows for a better understanding of this process. TCCs generate dynamics capable of acting on both the material and symbolic dimensions of urban environments as a way to contribute to the quality and revitalization of living environments.