Monday, November 30, 2009

The psychological make-up of a city

I wonder what the best approach would be to determine the psychological make-up of a city. In Oslo and Warsaw I took the following approach. I asked some key cultural innovation drivers to describe their city to me as if it were a person. 'If Oslo is your friend, what would he/she be like?' This is a branding approach, making personae for a product. The problem is that cultural innovators are just one group to ask. Probably, immigrants would have a completely different picture of the city. Carol Coletta (CEOs for Cities) told me in Tilburg that she liked the idea that Manchester described itself as a collection of short stories, because the city (or any city) is too complex to make 1 single story. Is that the risk of all citybranding? That no single idea can capture something as organic and complex as a city?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Talking Heads on wheels

I just saw on Planetizen (http://www.planetizen.com/books/2010) The Top 10 books on urbanism. One was a really unexpected title: David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries. Whadda ya know? The former Talking Heads lead singer cycles thru a number of cities, sometimes with planners and politicians, musing on the built environment. They quote him, cycling thru Berlin, pondering on the non-human scale and utopian atmosphere of the city. Something else

Hidden stories


Keizerslanden in the Dutch hanseatic town of Deventer is a typical 60's/70's neighbourhood.

It's spacious, green and almost completely monofunctional. All looks peaceful and quiet, but it tops most of the social issues lists. Poverty, unemployment, isolation. You name it. Everyone of the 9.000 people there have a story. And the stories are untold. Because the stories are hidden. The housing corporation asked me to do a brainstorm with them. We came up with festivals, hiphop workshops and battles with the kids, a plave for good coffee and a conversation. I pointed them to the work of David Barrie in Britain. Most important, I believe is not what, but how you do it. Any event they choose should be designed, by designers and artists working closely together with the people at Keizerslanden. get the pride and energy going.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vankovka Foundry


Had a visit to the Vankovka Foundry in Brno. Old foundry turned into an artgallery. Beautiful space - they have flexible panels to make quick partitions. The art looked good. And there was a Zanussi fridge and washingmachine show. Even that was pallatable in a setting like the foundry. Our group was joined by Gregoria Todaro who works for the city of Melbourne as a planner. She took 5 months off to go to Europe. We were talking with Dan Sequerra who was active for the Creative Industries Cluster in Sheffield if it would be

a good investment to have more creative spaces. Zulfi Hussain said he might be more interested in Poland. Czech authorities are not so co operative, but the beer and the buzz at Vankovka are great. Best brownfield development in Czech.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Working in Brno

I'm in my hotelroom in Hotel Bila Ruz in Brno, going over my notes for the speech at Future Cities Forum today. Met Monika last night and she had great news: the fantastic art deco Scheibler powerstation in Lodz will get UNESCO world heritage status. At last! If ever you could see a miracle place - it is this cathedral of steam. And Monika, Kris from the Lodz Art Center and Agnieszka Wlazel from River Cities, Warsaw, will be getting together in september for as conference on creative cities development.

Friday, April 17, 2009

My Estonia


On May 1st appr. 100.000 Estonians will take part in a national brainstorm day. An incredible We-Think act. Up t0 400 locations will be opened for open space brainstorm to make Estonia a smarter country. There are 18 topics, ranging from creativity and entrepreneurship, to transport and being fit and healthy at an old age. Speaking of wisdom of the crowds! Last year 50.000 Estonians held a national clean-up day last year, and this Big Think is the follow-up.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A cathedral devoted to steam


This is Scheibler's art deco powerstation when we were there in april last year for the

Ksiezy Mlyn Vision of the Future Conference that Monika organised. We is: Edwin Verdurmen from CASA Arnhem, Peik Suyling from YD+I, Amsterdam and Liesbeth Jansen from Amsterdam's unrivalled Westergasfabriek.

Monday, April 13, 2009

David Lynch: from Moscow to Lodz


Missed David Lynch in Moscow. He was at the Gerasimov Institute for Cinematography last week. Got the news via Zhjenja. One of his favorite spots where you can see him annually is the Camerimage Festival in Lodz, Poland (www.pluscamerimage.pl). Lynch is there every autumn. He bought the EC1 powerstation (see pic.) with a Polish businesspartner, to turn it into an academy and studio. We'll probably drop by Lodz when we're in Warsaw in May. Lynch always has a green chair with him to sit down and ponder over wonderously surrealist places. And Lodz is full of them. When he saw the older art deco powerstation once owned by Scheibler, he decided to do something in Lodz. Scheibler's powerstation is one of the most magical places in Europe, but hard to get in nowadays. Lodz innovators like Monika Dziegielewska are trying hard to preserve it, maybe as a UNESCO heritage building.

New Juice for Arnhem


New media artists and students from ICA Academy Arnhem will go underground for the New Juice festival (http://www.newjuice.nl/) They will be deep into the city's historic underground network of cellars. Arnhem had a thriving underground scene in the early 80's with punk, new wave and squatters claiming the city. Let's see it get back in 2.0. Ever since creativity got accepted by policymakers, be aware. It's time for the subversives and edge types to go for creative chaos once again!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Cold Turkey Transition


Urban areas that are abandoned because of the crisis and foreclosures are returned to farmland. These places have to be turned into self-sustaining communities, like the Transition Town movement that started in Totnes, England. Only this is transition cold turkey. This is not self-willed. No choices here. But it is the only way to survive and be ready for a new future. What to do? How to do it? Do we have these developments in Europe too?

Suburban Wasteland



The economic crisis is turning some American cities into ghosttowns. Really. Cities like Detroit have enough empty lots to fill the city of San Francisco. In between acres and acres of complete emptiness, some communities still function. Cities like Flint are even turning abanboned parts back into farmland. Meanwhile crowds have left the city and travelled far out into suburbia , areas without even transport or connections.



Thursday, March 19, 2009

How do you weather a perfect storm?


Cities can be hard hit by the recession. So, what about Warsaw? The number one business city and building site of eastern Europe has seen severe setbacks of late. And all just when the phoenix city was unleashing its creative potential. I'll be back there in May, trying to find out what the urban innovators are up to. What would you do when you are out of a job?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Warsaw has a borderline personality

Did you ever hear someone speak of their city as a borderline personality? I did. Creative change agents in Warsaw speak of their city like that. And they still love it. Warsaw is a freaky city in a way. It has a beautiful old part, but it only dates back 50 years as it was built from scratch and rubble and reconstructed meticulously, like Montgomery Clift's face, after the war by the Russians. Then there's the part that is called the center and which is an almost American grid lay out of endless thru-roads, shiny offices and malls that pretend progress and development. Then there is the Parisian area that connects the two, where the palaces and best churches are. And then there is the part across the river, across the bridges that span the Vistula. It's Praga and it's original, pre-war and huge parts of it are run down. Some of it to such a degree that Polanski could shoot The Pianist there without much extra dereliction added. Still, Warsaw gets under your skin. If you are willing to look beyond business and the malls there is a lot of counter culture going on. There is a city of talent and 'can do' out there for those who want to look well. I love Warsaw and I can't say why. It just sticks to you in the energy of the people. It is bubbling to the surface. If, in the 21st century, a city's future is its face, what would the future be for a city with many faces?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The war on talent is over. Talent won

The war on talent is over. Talent won. This is the slogan of the World Talent Forum in Pamplona. But leaders around the world still manage to fight our current crisis by investing in infrastructure or bailing out companies, instead of investing in talent. Just spoke to my old friend Richard Florida. He said this is not a Depression, it is The Great Reset. Our whole economic and societal systems are being reset for the creative economy. The city or region that gets the message that if you invest in the development of talent and everyone's creativity NOW , will be far ahead of everyone when the crisis is over. Is your city going to get it? Or are you trying to keep farming alive when everyone around you is building factories. 'There's something happening here and you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?'

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A Talent for taste

The Spanish region of Navarra, where I am now blogging from Pamplona, is trying to figure out what it should do about its talent. There is research here. There are artists and designers. But, walk thru one of the narrow cobbled streets of this city and you know where its best talents are. You can smell it from the bars, bodegas and restaurants: this is a region with a knack for good taste. It's brimming with great cuisine and best of all are the pinxtos - tapas, but then more elaborate. Petite works of art; great creations for the palate. And they cost next to nothing in bars like Niza (a national pinxtos prizewinner) or bodegas like Otona. If I were to promote Navarra I would have a slogan like 'Come to your senses, come to Navarra'.

Moscow XXL

What's authentic? I was in Moscow a few months ago. The British Council ran their wonderful The Network Effect programme. Take the Seven Sisters in Moscow. Seven huge Stalinist highrises put up by uncle Joe himself. Everyone says they're so authentic of Moscow. But they date back only to the fifties and Stalin had 7.000 buildings and 368 churches demolished to make room for his skyscrapers and towering housing blocks. Moscow was built to impress. Everything is larger than life. So is downtown Manhattan, but that has a streetlevel life of its own. Moscow is muscles. It is supposed to say: hey, we're the greatest. If the city needed a new slogan, I proposed to name it Moscow XXL. 'Cause that's what it is.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

World Talent Forum in Pamplona

I've just arrived in Pamplona, Spain. It's 5 degrees and pouring. The Maisonnave hotel in the old city is on one of the narrow streets where they run the bulls during the St. Fermin festival in July. But now it's wet and quiet except for my neighbour's noisy television. Tomorrow the Agora Talentia (www.agoratalentia.es) will start, the word's first global forum on talent in the creative age. Just had a fabulous tapas dinner with Ann and Paul from the Lisbon Council and speakers from all over the world. We talked on the war on talent in times of crisis. Yes, sure: that war is over; in the sense that talent won. But will young talent get a chance to change Europe as it is? How can cities thrive in these times? We sat in a circle and had tapas the way Hemingway had, as he was a regular at the Josetxo (www.restaurantejosetxo.com). Sam from Massachusetts talked about 'the dark side of meritocracy.' Our cities are full of very eager people and creativity is a great thing, but when it comes to banking and accountancy: please be reliable and dull. So, what do you think? Will the crisis bring about a counter-globalisation thing? Like, all banks becoming nationalized an regionalized. Like, people lending money to eachother. And in an eco way: selfsustaining energy regions that produce their own energy, supply it to a regional power staion that distributes it back? And talking about food and food miles: will we rely on small circles of regional production that reduce transport? If that is so, the city and the region will become even more important. Not only as a nucleus of economic activities and talent magnet, but a selfsupportive City State 2.0.