Page 5 - Social_Sustainability of Culture

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Chapter 1 CREATIVE CITIES

1.1 What is a creative city? – THE CONCEPT

Some countries describe a city in terms of quantitative measures, for example, the presence of certain
services (such as health care, education, governmental bodies, even five-star hotels) or when the majority
of its population is employed in non-agricultural activities to define their cities. In many cases,
governmental authorities issue ‘city’ declarations based on political evaluations and the distribution of
financial resources. In the modern era, the definition of a city has changed from the past, thank to the
industrialization and globalization processes, cities became Hubs for education and arts, supporting
universities, museums and cultural institutions. For this reason, cities have always been associated with
transformative ideas and novel social initiatives. Today, a city promotes its cultural activities through the
place branding and city marketing, public diplomacy techniques used to inform development strategy,
to attract businesses, investors, residents, and tourists and to create a shared identity and sense of place
within the metropolitan area.

Cities and urban regions are not just mere containers for innovative activities but are actively involved in
the generation of new ideas, new organisational forms and new enterprise. 1
Cities that succeed in innovating are those where ‘[...] people are less mechanical units of production and
more the creators of wealth. Cities shift from having a density of resources to a density of networks and
circuits where proximity to resources was substituted by proximity to knowledge’.
2

Besides hosting technological progress, cities are also enabling various other types of innovation. This
variety of innovations is associated with products, processes, marketing and organisational contexts, all of
which are significant in urban and metropolitan areas. Some concrete ways in which cities are encouraging
innovation are: Entrepreneurial innovation oriented to support small businesses in the creation of new
jobs; Social innovation highly focused on meeting social needs by enhancing social interactions and
integrating ideas, knowledge and vision of civil society with urban development; Innovation in work
systems: including smart working, high mobility of entrepreneurs, co-working spaces, open office areas
and other alternative ways to generate income; Culture-led innovation, typically deriving from the creative
knowledge of the arts and cultural domains and inspiring many city-relevant sectors and areas, including
cultural tourism, consumer electronics and urban regeneration.

“Cities are often places of great energy and optimism. They are where most of us choose to live, work and
interact with others. As a result, cities are where innovation happens, where ideas are formed from which
economic growth largely stems.” Innovation and creativity are the drivers for the development of the city
3
as well as the contribution and the participation of artists, creatives, entrepreneurs in the society add and
produce an extra value for the cities and its future development.

1 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00343404.2016.1255324
2 Landry C. 2015, Cities of ambition, Comedia
3 futureagenda 2017, future of cities, insight from Multiple expert https://www.futureofcities.city/pdf/full/Future%20
of%20Cities%20Report%202017.pdf