This book analyzes the contribution of cultural policy and the creative sectors of contemporary cities from the most advanced theories and concepts of cultural and urban sociology. Specifically, the book focuses on the phenomenon of cultural clustering, the transformation of urban cultural institutions and the emergence of artistic neighborhoods, taking the city of Barcelona as the object of study and paradigmatic of this process. Barcelona reveals the great possibilities that culture has to transform a post-industrial city into a tourist and service center, highlighting the contribution of politics and cultural institutions in this transformative process The limits, unexpected effects, and resistances to these dynamics that mark a new stage of culture in the 21st century of today's metropolis, are also confronted. This is a timely review of the main theoretical-methodological debates of the cultural field, applied to an urban context considered as a "cultural city" and in constant urban revitalization.

Joaquim Rius Ulldemolins holds a PhD in Sociology from the UAB and EHESS. He is currently employed as a full professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Valencia. His teaching duties include the sociology of culture and the sociology of social change. He has authored numerous books and more than fifty articles on the sociology of culture and cultural policy, which have been published in national and international journals. Since 2015, he has served as the Director of the Center for Studies on Culture, Power and Identities at the University of Valencia and since 2022 as Coordinator of the Master of Cultural Management at the University of Valencia. He is member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Cultural Policy and Publications de la Universitat de València (PUV).

Ricardo Klein is a sociologist from the University of the Republic (Uruguay) and holds a PhD in Cultural Management and Heritage from the University of Barcelona. He is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Valencia, Director of the Research Group on City, Public Spaces and Culture (CICU, UV), and a member of the Centre for Studies on Culture, Power and Identities (UV). His teaching covers the sociology of culture and the arts, mass communication, cultural policy and sociological theory. He has participated in several research projects on the city, culture and public space, focusing on urban creativity, cultural policy and artistic practices in contexts of social transformation, and has published numerous book chapters and articles in national and international journals.