Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I do not want you just to listen. I want you the audience to self-assess the
city where you come from as you listen. Everyone will receive a scorecard
where you can judge your city according to the ten domains. 1 is very bad
and 10 is brilliant. Ideally under each heading make one brief comment. If
you are from Ghent write Ghent on top and if you are from elsewhere in
Flanders
write
the
name
of
your
city.
You will note that each domain covers a compact set of issues. In some
cases with a domain you will want to give a range of scores. For instance,
a place may be entrepreneurial within the private sector but less so
elsewhere or it may be the reverse. Or you consider your place as it
exists highly, but the ongoing development of it more lowly. Either way
try to come to a composite score.
I have discussed the index with colleagues in Ghent and after each section
I make some brief comments about the city to help you get a sense of
what we are looking for. Of course this text is not a full or final
assessment of the creative pulse in Ghent or any other city. Therefore a
thorough analysis would be needed. Nevertheless, this is a starting point:
an open invitation to reflect about our cities today and about how
creativity can help us shaping their futures.
The Creative City Index has many components and you are testing just
one, which is the subjective self-assessment. As leaders in your field I am
convinced that collectively this subjective judgement is quite objective.
Below I describe the Creative City Index and the text is 4000 words. If it
is too long for you just skim the headings and scan the document so that
you are prepared.
Setting the scene
Creative cities rise and fall and very few remain creative for a very long
time, such as two or three centuries. This is the central challenge of the
creative city notion, which is to develop the conditions, physically,
culturally and psychologically, for cities to become creatively resilient.
There have been many creative places throughout history and there are
many today. We can learn from what they achieved and they have
affected our various civilizations.
Each of these famous creative hubs offered us something unique from
which we can still learn today. Athens gave us an intellectual heritage that
fostered debate, analysis and critique. Venice highlights to us the
importance of specialization, expertise and trade networks. Florence
reminds us how important new business models are such as its invention
of banking systems. Vienna shows us how a configuration of core ideas
can affect a number of disciplines simultaneously. The rise of Paris as an
arts and fashion leader was triggered and aided by royal sponsorship,
which is in effect public investment. London of the swinging 60s hit a
global Zeitgeist or mood of change and the success of Silicon Valley helps
point out the elements required, organizational, financial and legal, to turn
ideas into reality.
Yet with our Eurocentric tendencies we can forget the history of other
continents. Kumasi the Ashanti capital was a creative hub as was the
historical Inca capital Cusco. In China places such as Ningbo or Changan
later Xian have a very long history. There is Kyoto in Japan and Indian
cities such as Varanasi or more recently Kolkata. All of them clustered the
powerful, the wealthy, the most gifted and the culturally sophisticated
attracting in the process the highest skills so setting up the conditions for
creativity.
In general the most comprehensively creative places were the seats of
Empire or at the centre of trade routes where political, economic and
cultural power could agglomerate. Yet many cities can express their
creativity as there is a vast amount of niches they can occupy. Not every
city is creative, but every city can be more creative than it already is.
Bilbao shows us lessons of physical regeneration and Helsinki in helping
create the internet based economy. These have both been measured
through the creative city index and are amongst the best in Europe. They
score very highly at just over 65%. Yet elsewhere we can note many
creative places such as Penang in Malaysia which always had an
intercultural mix and has been a leader in social movements and fostering
democracy. Kanazawa in Japan has found a strong cultural set of niches
for itself in spite of the pull of Tokyo and Osaka. San Francisco remains
creative. Its involvement in new arts movements was powerful and
advocacy for gay rights and equal opportunities also important and now it
is a strong innovator within the internet economy. Singapore has aspects
of creativity, especially its long term strategic focus, in spite criticism of
its controlling approach. Mumbai is a vibrant hub with creativity emerging
both from its slums as well as its software and media industries. Others
are on the creative horizon, such as Shanghai, which languished for many
years and once Chinese cities get beyond imitation and refocus on
invention the possibilities are immense.
What is a creative place: An overview
A creative place has a strong culture. It is somewhere where people can
express their talents which are harnessed, exploited and promoted for the
common good. Things get done. These talents act as a catalyst and role
model to the development and attraction of further talent. It is a place
with myriad, high quality learning opportunities, formal and informal, with
a forward looking and adaptable and highly connected curriculum. The
physical environment functions well for its inhabitants, it is easy to move
around and connect with each other. Its high level urban design inspires,
stimulates and generates pride and affection. The architecture, old and
new, is well-assembled, and the street pattern is diverse and interesting.
Webbed within the ordinary is the occasional extra-ordinary and
remarkable. It is an environment in which creators of all kinds are content
and motivated to create and where there are outlets and channels to
exploit innovations or for the sale of their work. It is a natural market
place, where people exchange ideas, develop joint projects, trade their
products, or work in its advanced industries. It offers rich, vibrant
experiences through for example gastronomy, the arts, heritage and its
natural surroundings, including thriving mainstream and alternative
scenes and a healthy network of third spaces. Opportunities abound: the
place is welcoming and encouraging. Its dynamism makes it a magnet and
so generates critical mass that guarantees longevity.
The political and public framework within which this exists has a clarity of
purpose and direction, and understands the importance of harnessing the
potential of its people. It is lean, clear and focused. Its workings are easy
to navigate and it is accessible, open and encourages participation. Public
employees here are focused on the job at hand regardless of
departmental boundaries. Differences are a natural part of this discussion
culture. They are debated, accepted, negotiated and resolved without
rancour. Its leadership has vision and is strategic yet is grounded in day
to day reality. It is respected and trusted and recognizes its vital role in
continuously identifying new opportunities and future-proofing. The
society it rules over has a high degree of cohesion, is relatively open to
incomers and to new ideas, even though these can sometimes be
uncomfortable indeed, creative places are often not that cosy and can
be somewhat edgy. This society enjoys its status as a creative hub and
the physical environment in which it exists. Levels of crime are in general
low, the place feels safe and standards of living are relatively high. It is
socially alert and seeks to avoid ghettoizing its poorest. Social
organizations are active, well funded and constructive.
Industry is innovative and design aware, with a strong focus on new
trends, emerging technologies and fledgling sectors such as developing
the green economy or creative industries. It is well networked and
connected and its commitment to research and development is well above
average. Cross fertilization across even the most diverse sectors occurs as
a matter of course. The business community is entrepreneurial, has drive
and is forward thinking. It understands and utilizes well its natural
resources, it harnesses existing talents and acts as a breeding ground for
new skills. Business leaders are respected figures in their community and
give something back. The community in turn is proud of their products
and the reputation they bring to the place. Good use is made of its
effective communications systems including local and international
transport, high speed internet access and connectivity to the world at
large.
Overall, as in all creative places, this place is unlike any other. You can
feel and sense the buzz, it is obvious to residents and visitors alike. It
accentuates its distinctiveness in a relaxed and unthreatening way. It is at
ease with itself. Its history, culture and traditions are alive, receptive to
influence and change, absorbing new ideas which in turn evolve and
develop its distinctiveness and culture.
The
ten
key
indicators
of
creative
place
We have distilled the above into ten key headings or groups of indicators
for creativity. Within each of these there are key traits or questions
indicating creativity which are described.
Creativity is clearly not the preserve of any single sector and it is
important to be wide ranging.
Arts
organizations,
While the 10 domain headings generally speak for themselves one would
look for a strong showing in the following qualities: motivation, tenacity,
awareness, clarity of communication, broad thinking, inspiration,
aspiration, adaptability, dynamism, openness, participation, design
awareness, sensory appreciation, professional pride, leadership, vision.
and
solutions
for
the
complex
challenges
of
the
city.
leaders creating motivated partnerships. They ensure that there are good
mechanisms to gather information on best practices and innovative
solutions from around the globe, such as research centres, think tanks
and collaborative devices such as clusters networks, specialist hubs or
technology parks. They are strategically agile knowing when and how to
seize opportunities, for which they have already created a state of
preparedness.
The decision making communities in public and private walks of life have a
forward focus, whether they are teachers, public servants, transports
chiefs, middle and higher management in industry and business, or
community organisers or those in the artistic world. They are always alert
and scan the horizon in their respective sectors, actively looking out for
the next important thing in their respective domains for example, at the
present time there is likely to a significant involvement in things green.
Their pride in place helps them to share a common agenda.
Comment: There clearly are areas of leadership in the city but do they
have a budget to follow them? Furthermore is there agility in trying to
implement these strategies as things change in the process of carrying out
the work? Are all sectors displaying leadership and how flexible are the
key players in finding joint solutions to problems or identifying
opportunities? The creativity agenda has seemed a bit vague to some in
Ghent and the city has shown agility in adapting the programme to
specific targets, such as how can poor kids eat more healthily, what can
people do themselves to reduce C02 emissions, but still it seems hard to
translate targets into actions.
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