Social Networks Matter
Mapping Social Networks of Small Businesses and Creative Industries in Downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The City of Rio de Janeiro sought to promote its historic downtown’s cultural patrimony alongside a series of redevelopment measures to encourage use of public space, enhance cultural activities, and support local economic development. I mapped social and financial networks of small businesses and organizations to uncover creative clusters and supplementary economies that support the economic ecosystem of the area. I pinpointed conditions to support organizations’ abilities to thrive amid new redevelopment practices in the region.
Context
How might a network of local organizations inform and develop the area’s cultural economy and inform distribution of government resources? The City of Rio de Janeiro was investing in its Central Business District’s historical neighborhood, around Praça Tiradentes, to improve public space and economic development. While the region had been traditionally underserviced, it houses a diversity of businesses and cultural activities. These clusters support the local economies, creative innovation and information sharing for business owners and different creative industries.
Praça Tiradentes was opened to the public after public space renovations, and gates were removed to allow for more public activities and pedestrian traffic.
Approach
I designed a methodology and data collection tool to gather organizational information to understand financing structures, economic and cultural outputs, and information sharing of organizations. Using ethnographic interviews and observational mapping,my work uncovered lived experiences, day to day business operations, and central themes to business owners, staff, and cultural organizations in formal and informal economies. I coded and mapped data using social network analysis to uncover kinship relationships, specifically to detect patterns in organizations’ relationships and how these patterns form economic clusters.
Rendered a raw graph of social interactions using social network analysis to pick up on relationships and patterns of information flows among business owners and cultural entities in the area.
Outcome
I generated a network map of stakeholders, pinpointing clusters of primary and secondary economies that inform the social and cultural ecosystem of the downtown region. This map highlighted central community leaders and financing structures that support local businesses and creative industries. I translated my research findings into a set of recommendations and strategies to support the municipal planning agency and the cultural programing for the downtown historic core. Using research findings, I obtained a additional funding to execute the project As Crônicas Tiradentes.
Final social network graph pinpointed key stakeholders in the area and uncovered clusters of economic and cultural activities.
