The art project 2-3 Streets, initiated by the artist Jochen Gerz, was part of the European Capital of Culture year RUHR.2010. International participants were invited to live in 'deprived' areas of three cities in the Ruhr-region in Germany. In this paper we discuss two separately conducted studies of the effects of this art project for the neighborhoods involved, describing critical aspects and placing them in a theoretical framework of sustainability, creative cities and modernization. The bringing together of the complementing theoretical findings of the two studies results in a reflection of (un)sustainable tendencies (within this art project), which can offer subsequent insights for other (art) projects in the thematic area of urban development. Our exploratory analysis enables a framework for further in-depth empirical research.