The creative city index

Measuring the pulse of cities

Say the COLOUR

not the WORD

YELLOWRED

WHITE

GREEN

BLUE

Left brain

• Focus on detail• Rational• Needs certainty• Planned and

structured• Seeks distinctions• Communicates

through text/ speech

• Competitive

• Sees the big picture• Intuitive• Happy with

ambiguity• Fluid and

spontaneous• Seeks connections• Communicates

through other senses• Co-operative

Right brain

What would a right

brain city be like?

•Case Study

•Cultural Policy Dilemmas

•Creative City Index

•Exercise

Huddersfield

25 years of cultural policy & action

HUDDERSFIELD

LEEDSMANCHESTER

Huddersfield

“Huddersfield – the most-commonly-cited example of a ‘creative city’ initiative”

UNESCO

Scandal at the Town Hall!

Ex-Mayor jailed for corruption

MP suspended from Parliament

Council ‘the worst we’ve seen’ says Govt watchdog

Jobless total reaches record high

Local authority in 1986… rigid departmentalism, convoluted decision-making, a lack of accountability, divisive senior management, very poor relations between politicians and a total lack of strategic direction.

UK Institute of Local Government

Cultural dilemmas

Change or stay the same?

CHANGE

Can Huddersfield think out of the box?

Sir John Harman

Political Leader

Robert Hughes

Chief Executive

VISION

+LEADERSHIP

+

DECENTRALISATION

+

PARTNERSHIP

The radical reform of Kirklees Metropolitan Council

CENTRALISMISOLATIONCONTROL

DIRECTINGINFORMATION

QUANTITYUNIFORMITY

LOW RISK/HIGH BLAME

CONFORMITYFAILURE

DEVOLUTIONPARTNERSHIPINFLUENCEENABLINGPARTICIPATIONQUALITYDIVERSITYHIGH RISK/LOW BLAMECREATIVITYSUCCESS

The Vision for Huddersfield

For every penny of power I gave away, I traded a pound of creative influence.

Sir John Harman

CULTURAL

POLICY?

Vision – Ideas – Energy – CredibilityDiversity – Human Capital

GRASSROOTS ARTS & BUSINESS

MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP

Political Courage – Strategic Clarity – Process Management

Organisational Entrepreneurship – Starting Capital

OLD CULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT

UNIVERSITY

A Chance to Participate

the potential of cultural industries and community

arts in the social and economic regeneration of

Huddersfield 1989 - 1999

Priorities

• Creative production• Support local cultures• Targeted excellence• Celebrating diversity• International connections• Image change• Urban regeneration

find

stimulate

nurture

fast track

harnessrecycle

embed

keep

CREATIVITY

Huddersfield Creative Towna Creative Community

Managed workspace

Training and Business Support

Events

Production Studios

R & D Marketing &Dissemination

Residential

Creative Town Initiative1997-2001

•Urban Pilot project

•EU Best Practice

•€ 9 Million

The Cycle of Creativity

Buildingideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

IDEAS GENERATION

IDEAS GENERATION

• Informal creative spaces• Planned creative spaces• Education system which encourages

curiosity and exploration• Open political atmosphere• Challenging public art• Research• Organised debating forums• Competitions and prizes for invention

The Cycle of Creativity

Enhancing ideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

IDEAS INTO PRACTICE

IDEAS INTO PRACTICE

• Expert advice and mentoring• Project and business planning• Incubation facilities• New business development• Prototyping and piloting

products/services• Finance- grants, loans, investment

The Cycle of Creativity

Enhancing ideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

CIRCULATION AND NETWORKING

CIRCULATION AND NETWORKING

• Information• Mapping• Forums and events• Media• Network organisations• Advocacy

The Cycle of Creativity

Enhancing ideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

PLATFORMS FOR DELIVERY

PLATFORMS FOR DELIVERY

• Production facilities: artist studios, recording studios, multimedia workshops, craft workshops, media centres, theatres and concert venues

• Exhibition facilities:TV, cinemas, internet, galleries

• Festivals

Patrick Stewart

Chancellor of

Huddersfield University

University Creative Arts Building

University Innovation Centre

The Cycle of Creativity

Enhancing ideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

MARKETING AND DISSEMINATION

AUDIENCES AND MARKETS

• Market intelligence and strategy• Product branding and packaging• Intellectual property• Distribution networks• Retail outlets

The Cycle of Creativity

Enhancing ideas-generating capacity

Turning ideas into practice

Networking and circulating

Platforms for Delivery

Building markets and audiences

Legacy• Population decline halted• Only district in region to see

population increase• Higher than average creative

industry growth

… and we’re happy!

We're so happy!

H IS for happiness and for Huddersfield. It's now official that we are the happiest town in Yorkshire, in the whole of the north of England for that matter; joint fifth in a UK top 10.

Huddersfield appeared 7th on the list published in the Times newspaper

Weaknesses• No tourism office• Poor quality hotels• Supermarkets dominate local

shops

CULTURAL POLICY DILEMMAS

Cultural policy making is a balancing act

CULTURAL POLICY DILEMMAS

FRAMEWORK DILEMMAS

IMPLEMENTATION DILEMMAS

SOCIAL DILEMMAS

ECONOMIC DILEMMAS

MANAGEMENT DILEMMAS

FRAMEWORK DILEMMAS

• Culture as intrinsically good

• Culture the High Arts

• Culture as a tool

• Culture as a Way of Life

• Top down

• Public services

• External prestige

• Bottom up

• Market forces

• Citizens first

IMPLEMENTATION DILEMMAS

• Majority identity - monocultural

• Heritage preservation

• Visitors first

• Minority identities - pluricultural

• Contemporary experi-mentation

• Residents first

SOCIAL DILEMMAS

• Subsidy

• Production

• Physical capital - containers

• Investment

• Consumption

• Human capital - content

ECONOMIC DILEMMAS

• City centre

• Direct service

• Artists

• Periphery

• Contracting out

• Managers

MANAGEMENT DILEMMAS

VERY FEW CHOICES ARE BLACK OR WHITECULTURAL POLICY IS ABOUT SHADES OF GREY

VERY FEW CHOICES ARE PERMANENTCULTURAL POLICY SHOULD BE DYNAMIC AND

RESPONSIVE

VERY FEW CHOICES ARE BLACK OR WHITECULTURAL POLICY IS ABOUT SHADES OF GREY

VERY FEW CHOICES ARE PERMANENTCULTURAL POLICY SHOULD BE DYNAMIC AND

RESPONSIVE

Is your cultural policy mainly concerned with putting the city on the international map,

attracting inward investment and tourism and creating prestigious infrastructure and events?

Is you cultural policy mainly concerned with helping local artists and residents to express their identity,

fulfil their needs, be happy and feel cohesive?

What are the characteristics of a Creative

City?

5 domains

1. Leadership & Governance2. Place and Identity3. Social Milieu4. Knowledge, Talent and Enterprise5. Lifestyle and Well-being

Leadership & Governance

• Visionary and forward-looking?• Trust in institutions• Widespread leadership• Citizen participation• Bureaucracy• Open public discourse

Place and Identity

• Reputation and image• Open and diverse cultural life• Choices and alternatives• Quality and quantity• Urban planning and architecture• Care and attention• Public space

Social Milieu

• Social and physical barriers• attitude to outsiders and minorities• Connections to outside world• Curiosity and convention• Movement around the city• Networks and association

Knowledge, Talent & Enterprise

• Quality of education and teachers• Attractiveness of universities• Retention of youth and talent• Career progression• Business environment• Innovation

Lifestyle and Well-being

• Friendliness and cohesion• Safety and security• Health and social care• Recreation• Ease of living• Poverty and inequality

What has cultural policy got to do

with most of these questions?

Innovation ranking (2008)

1 Sweden2 Finland3 Denmark4 Germany5 Netherlands6 France7 Austria8 UK9 Belgium10 Luxemburg(EU27 average)11 Ireland12 Spain13 Italy14 Portugal15 Greece

1 Sweden2 Luxemburg3 Finland4 France5 Denmark6 Netherlands7 Belgium8 Germany9 UK10 Austria(EU27 average)11 Ireland12 Italy13 Spain14 Greece15 Portugal

Artistic participation

ranking(2007)

Great cities don’t always have all the

right answers

But they ask all the right questions

The same can be said about a great Cultural Policy

Wrong kind of questions

• Can we build a bigger opera house than our rival city?

• Why don’t our politicians give us enough money?

• How can young people be told to appreciate better art?

• How can we defend our jobs and privileges?

Right kind of questions

• How can we attract and retain bright and energetic people?

• What makes this place different and special?

• How can we stimulate kids to be curious and adventurous?

• What things bring people closer and more co-operative?

GROUP WORK EXERCISE

• Split into groups• Volunteer offers their city as ‘test

case’• Groups questions city on its position

regarding the Cultural Dilemmas• NOW and in the FUTURE• What does this tell you about the city

and the direction it is moving?

GROUP WORK EXERCISE

• Group poses the 21 Questions to the city

• What do the answers tell you about:– Governance & leadership– Place and identity– Social milieu– Knowledge, talent & enterprise– Lifestyle & well-being

GROUP WORK EXERCISE

Do the answers to the Index suggest the city will have the capability to realise the vision and direction suggested in the Cultural Dilemmas exercise?

What advice would you give?

FEEDBACK

• City volunteer + one other

• What you discovered

• Correlations and contradictions

• Recommendations to the city

TIMING

• Read the handouts15

• Cultural Dilemmas Q & A20

• Summarise10

• Creative City Q & A20

• Summarise10

• Synthesize20

• Prepare feedback 10