european perspectives: what is the role of cultural planning strategies in enhancing local quality...

European perspectives: what is the role of cultural planning strategies in enhancing local quality of life?

The components of ‘quality of life’

The limits of many existing quality of life studies

Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

The remote origins of cultural planningIn ancient Greece, Rome and the ItalianRenaissance

The revolutionary contribution of Patrick Geddes: botanist, sociologist, biologist, planner

1)planning is not a physical science but a human science: Folk, Work and Place;

2)survey before plan;

3)the importance of ‘civic renewal’

The emergence of the modern concept and practice of cultural planning in the USIn the 1970s and 1980s

Wolf von Eckhardt’s formulation

Robert McNulty and Parthers for Livable Places

Franco Bianchini

Franco Bianchini

The work of the Comedia group in the UK since the late 1980s:

cultural industries strategiesthe rediscovery of the night-time economythe creative city debatethe intercultural citythe work of Lia Ghilardi and Noema other applications of cultural planning tourban lighting and city marketingthe first Masters courses in cultural planning

Franco Bianchini

Franco Bianchini

Australian experiences:

the work of Colin Mercerthe Integrated Local Area Plans (ILAPs)

The adoption of cultural planning approaches inother parts of the world

Some criticisms of cultural planning:often cultural plans are reduced to arts plansand creative city strategies to creative industries strategies

Franco Bianchini

Franco Bianchini

Some interpretations of cultural planning

‘Cultural planning’ as thinking culturally (and artistically) about public policy: a culturally sensitive approach to urban and regional planning and to environmental, social and economic policy-making

‘Cultural planning’ as ‘the strategic and integral planning and use of cultural resources for urban and community development’ (Colin Mercer)

‘Cultural planning’ as ‘cultural plumbing’

Cultural planning and the development of citizenship

‘Cultural planning’ or ‘planning culturally’?

‘Cultural planning’ or ‘culture-based local development’?

Artist-led cultural planning


Artists and cultural planning

Konst and konstig

Artists are generalists (and that’s a good thing)

John Latham and the APG


holistic, interdisciplinary, lateral:

importance of collaborative working e.g. cittadellarte, Biella, Italy

(www.cittadellarte.it) PROJECT (an initiative by the Arts

Council, CABE and Arts & Business in the UK; www.publicartonline.org.uk)Comedia (www.comedia.org.uk)


Learning from the processes of cultural production, which tend to be:


Cittadellarte and its offices:

EducationEcologyEconomyWorkPoliticsSpiritualityCommunicationArchitectureFood


Collaborative projects in urban lighting:

Luci d’artista, TurinLyonValon Voimat (Forces of Light) festival, HelsinkiLight Night, LeedsSee Zenobia Razis Reflections on Urban LightingComedia, 2002

Franco Bianchini

innovation-oriented, experimental, not narrowly instrumental:

need to open up policy systems to young talent, and

to set up pilot projects and R&D budgets need to reassess ideas of ‘success’ and ‘failure’



critical, questioning, challenging:

welcoming conflicts and contradictions as a creative resource - e.g. ‘Cities on the Edge’ project, Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008

Projects on the Third Reich legacy, Linz European Capital of Culture 2009

Museo della mafia ‘Leonardo Sciascia’, Salemi, Sicily



cultured, and critically aware of history, local distinctiveness and of traditions of creativity and cultural expression:

*documenting local distinctiveness (also through cultural cartography)

*creating a local ‘image bank’

* drawing inspiration from local traditions of creativity and innovation



A ‘cultural planning’ approach toplace marketing

Chris Murray Making Sense of Place (Comedia, 2001)Revealing and discovering, not designing and selling, place identitiesGoing beyond product marketingCelebrating complexity and layering


Some data from Murray’s research

Local people - friendly 163Local people - other references 15

Local culture - diversity 157Local culture - homogeneity 495

The present 223The past/heritage 1,134

Uniqueness (non-specific) 218Uniqueness (specific) 61


Some of Murray’s suggestions

IntegrationParticipate to innovateReconnect place marketing to place developmentRetrain the professionals


Inspiring initiatives in European cities

Artist-led lighting strategies (Turin, Essen)

Festivals as catalysts (Mantua, Modena, Rennes)

Contemporary architecture and public art in historic environments (Graz, Nimes, Munster)

Innovative transport systems (Perugia, Grenoble)

Linking art and new technology (Karlsruhe)

Cultural planning in rural areas:

Greg Baeker and the ‘creative rural economy’ idea,Canada

the work of Littoral Arts Trust and of the Rural Cultural Forum in the UK


Differences between ‘cultural planning’ and ‘cultural policy’:

the two approaches are complementary


Researching and mobilising local cultural resources

A definition of local cultural resources:

• Arts and media activities and institutions• Sports and recreation• The tangible and intangible heritage• The local ‘image bank’• Places for sociability• Intellectual and scientific milieux and

institutions• Creative inputs into local crafts,

manufacturing and services activities


Researching and mobilising local cultural resources

A definition of the urban ‘image bank’:

• Media coverage• Stereotypes, jokes and ‘conventional

wisdom’• Cultural representations of a city• Myths and legends• Tourist guidebooks• City marketing and tourism promotion

literature• Views of residents, city users and

outsiders


Understanding urban mindscapes and imaginaries

One gestalt of the urban imaginary?Klaus Siebenhaar’s marketing strategy for

Berlin The politics of symbolic contestation The production of official urban mindscapes



The importance of mapping • entrepreneurial opportunities & desires, not just

needs• obstacles & constraints, not just opportunities• gatekeepers, gateways, networks & collaborations• local talent & creative & innovative milieux• the uses of time• different moral, aesthetic,philosophical,

organizational and policy concepts and styles

• The importance of making innovative links between different types of cultural resources

• The value of ‘hidden’ assets: the Budrio ocarina septet and festival

Some issues in urban cultural strategies and local quality of life today

An uneasy coexistence of urban cultural policy rationales from different historical periods

1) the intrinsic and civilising value of access to culture (1940s-1950s)

2) the transformative potential of ‘cultural democracy’ and active participation (1970s)

3) culture as a tool for economic development and place marketing (1980s-1990s)

4) cultural actions to change the behaviours of individuals and communities (1990s): examples from Colombia

The standardisation and corporatisation of city centres

The ‘anywhere’ shopping mall

The dull new public realm of ‘anywhere’ out-of-town shopping centres

Urban sprawl

Citadels of entertainment, from film to fitness (Marc Augé, Non-Places)

Urban sprawl and leisure activities

CHANGE

Urban cultural strategies and the economic crisis

The ‘triple’ (credit, energy and climate) crunch (New Economics Foundation)

A new focus on production and skills?

Creative cities for the world (Charles Landry):beyond destructive forms of urban competitiveness

New priorities: reducing the negative impacts of unemploymentfinding new uses for redundant buildingsfostering a climate of resilience, exploration and innovation

The need for alliances between cultural planning and the environmentalist movements?

Urban cultural strategies and the economic crisis

Decline of community facilities

Impact of reductions in availability of benefits

Less money for culture-led regeneration projects

Lower priority to artistic and creative practices in schools

Lower cost of premises for cultural activities

More opportunities for experimental artistic interventions

Less bureaucracy and red tape

Possible new funding partnerships

New ‘sub-cultural’ and internet-based forms of participation

Growing cultural hybridity

New types of cultural institutions, beyond dividesbetween culture and commerce, production and display

The problems generated by focusing funding on consumption activities, flagship buildings and city centres

Multiple deprivation in many inner urban and peripheral areas

Social exclusion: the importance of access policies, ‘soft boundaries’ and public space networks

Community artists: from revolutionaries to trainers?

Social and cultural inclusion strategies for economic development

Urban cultural strategies and social inclusion

The danger of reverting to culture for the few

Strategies for community engagement

‘New commissioning’Participatory budgetingInvitation policiesSocial interaction, not community cohesion

Importance of the ‘porosity’ and permeability of cultural institutions

Urban cultural strategies and social inclusion

The multi-ethnic and multicultural city

National approaches to managing ethnic diversity are being questioned

Corporate multiculturalism (UK, Netherlands)

The search for alternative concepts -e.g. integration and communitycohesion

The multi-ethnic and multicultural city

Civic cultural integration (France)

National approaches to managing ethnic diversity are being questioned

The debate around the concept of ‘interculturalism’ and its applications

Definitions

Cultivating ‘cultural literacy’:creating new local glossaries

Holistic cultural/social/health centres: the Peepul Centre, Leicester

European initiatives: the EU’s Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) and the Council of Europe’sIntercultural Cities research project



The Intercultural City, by Phil Wood and Charles Landry, London, Earthscan, 2008

The fragility of intercultural projects in the recession

The rise of anti-immigration parties and movements:Marine Le Pen, Wilders, Lega Nord, Jobbik

Creating an Intercultural Civic Identity and Culture

Creating intercultural architecture and urban design

Reshaping collective memory to include “the other”

Shaping collective self-image through intercultural public art strategies

Transforming mentalities through public awareness and education initiatives


Some issues raised by the project:

Some issues raised by the project:


Counteracting Ethnic Segregation in Urban Spaceand Public Life

The strategic siting of cultural infrastructure: examples from England, Austria and Portugal

Countering ethnic stigmatisation through place marketing: Hyson Green, Nottingham

From multicultural to intercultural festivals: examples fromRotterdam, Edinburgh and Berlin

Diversifying the airwaves

Can the crisis be an opportunity for innovation?

The continuing problem of the relatively low politicalstatus of culture

The limitations of evidence-based advocacy

The need for political mobilisation

Culture as a ‘soft option’ for public expenditure cuts

Towards new forms of elected urban culturalleadership and strategic partnerships in which the cultural sector plays a key role (e.g. Culture Montreal)?

Towards new European NGOs to campaign for investment in urban culture?


Can implementation problems be overcome?

Training needs

Institutional arrangements for effective partnerships

Emerging professional specializations: the ‘cultural cartographer’the intercultural mediatorthe ‘culture and social policy’ specialistthe creative enterprises support specialistthe ‘culture and place marketing’ specialistthe ‘culture and property development’ specialistthe cultural planner


Can implementation problems be overcome?

Training needs

Institutional arrangements for effective partnerships

The need for international cultural strategies

The fragility of existing cultural planning experiments:

1)conceptual confusion2)competition for resources3)cultural mapping is difficult to use well, for public policy,cultural programming and business development


Problems with NOT doing cultural planning:

containers without contentsunsustainable flagship projects


Professor Franco Bianchini

School of Cultural Studies and HumanitiesFaculty of Arts, Environment and Technology Leeds Metropolitan University

E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]

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