The Impact of "Big" and "Small" Art on Urban Change

The paper discusses various perspectives on arts and culture in urban context. It provides case study of Katowice, (post)industrial city in Upper Silesia Region in Poland and analyses uses and misuses of arts and culture in urban development and community integration. Answering the question why some cultural interventions and investments favour urban change, while others seem to have no significant impact, the paper points to the problem of participation and empowerment on the one hand and city branding on the other. It analyses interactions between uses and misuses of "big" and "small", mainstream and alternative arts, top-down cultural policies and bottom-up art initiatives and attempts to identify mechanisms that underlie urban change.