46 research outputs found
Electronic Łódź, Poland: From Freedom Parade to Managed Entertainment
No full textTo the casual observer, late 1970s Sheffield was a grim place, littered with the charred decaying remnants of post-industrialisation and humming with the urban renewal of brutalist post-war dystopian architecture. Framed by the harsh northern landscape, it was seen as either the spectre of a dire past, or the vision of a romantic, technological future.
Drawing inspiration from this environment and fuelled on a cocktail of Roxy Music and A Clockwork Orange, electronic musical pioneers Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League appeared. These bands would establish a music lineage encompassing bands, clubs and labels through to the 21st century and placing Sheffield at the centre of the UK’s electronic music story
Creative economy policies : the case of the video game industry in Brisbane and Melbourne (Australia)
No full textCreative city strategies in Toronto and Vancouver: Towards a comparative analysis with Australian cities (Melbourne and Brisbane
No full textThis paper is based on research on creative city movements in Toronto and Vancouver between September 2009 and April 2011 that focused on the influence of the creative city concept on recent economic development strategies and on urban regeneration initiatives located in the two downtowns. This research was initially based on 17 interviews for the Canadian case studies with stakeholders working in cultural services at the city level, and with stakeholders involved in regeneration initiatives. However, in this paper we focus on the influence of the creative concept on recent economic development policies in a comparative perspective with Australian case studies. Brisbane and Melbourne are the two main cities in Australia that have been most significantly influenced by the creative city concept in regard to their economic development strategies, as Vancouver and Toronto are for Canada. The aim in this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for comparison between Australian and Canadian case studies for future research. Our hypothesis is that creative city strategies are likely to transfer differently from one city to another, dependent upon the orientation prioritized by local actor networks. In that sense, the transfer of creative city ideas into policies and urban planning is likely to be strongly influenced by the local political culture of each city. We initially looked for the Canadian case studies at two distinct but interrelated areas influenced by the emergence of creative city ideas: economic development policies, and culture-led regeneration initiatives. We choose this approach in reference to the work of Evans (2009) who studied the transfer of the creativity script as a rationale for economic development policies, as well as its impact on urban development strategies
The regeneration process of entertainment zones and the Business Improvement Area model: a comparison between Toronto and Vancouver.
No full textThis paper examines the regeneration process of two entertainment zones in Canada, both of which involve business improvement areas (BIAs) within the local governing structure. The main objective is to analyse the arrangement of local governance and the corresponding influence on the regeneration strategy in each context. Resultantly, it is clear that local governance structure holds significant impact on project outcome, which in both cases has led to similar regeneration strategies with regard to place-making and economic revitalization. As a recommendation moving forward, the BIA model might be twinned with a sustainability assessment of the site in order to produce a more strategic approach to urban regeneration
‘Clusters’ or ‘communities’? Analyzing the spatial agglomeration of video game companies in Australia
No full textIn this paper, I question whether agglomerations of video game companies in Australia function as clusters (spatially bound) or rather as communities (not spatially bound). The two case studies included in the analysis are the main agglomerations of video companies in Australia - Brisbane and Melbourne. The data have been collected through 21 semi-structured interviews performed between 2012 and 2014. The main findings are as follows: (1) the primary reason that video game companies come together is to share tacit knowledge and skilled labour; (2) these agglomerations do not have the attributes of "creative clusters"; and (3) new technologies enable experienced game developers to operate at the geographic periphery of the main agglomeration of developers. Therefore, to paint a more accurate picture of why some video game companies are successful - beyond simply positive externalities associated with co-localization - I propose the term "networked communities." This recognizes that social networks at varying scales (local, national, international) are being developed by video game firms in order to thrive and reach a global audience
Innovation and sustainable urban regeneration: the Lyon Confluence project as a best practice
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southThe Lyon Confluence project is considered as a best practice in sustainable urban regeneration. Itis an urban regeneration project of unusual scope in Europe as it will double Lyon city’s centre and includes the redevelopment of 150 ha of land. It will create a smart and sustainable district with 25 000 employments and 16 000 residents. City planners present the project as an extension of the existing city-centre. The project started in 1995 when former Mayor Raymond Barre saw the availability of industrial land on Lyon’s central peninsula as a unique opportunity to develop a mixed-use and sustainable neighborhood that would enhance the identity of Lyon as a major city in Europe. With this paper, we analyze how the governance component of the project and the financing mechanisms have facilitated the implementation of innovative features such as the eco-renovation of a social housing building, sustainable mobility (e.g., car sharing) and the construction of positive energy buildings in partnership with the NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization). The Confluences regeneration project is unique in the sense that it is a smart community demonstration project: an agreement was signed in December 2011 between the Mayor of Grand Lyon, the President of NEDO: “Under this agreement advanced Japanese technology will contribute to sustainable development of the Confluence Site until 2015” (Lyon Smart Community, 2013, p. 5). The partners in this regeneration project are: Grand Lyon, SPD Lyon Confluence, NEDO, Toshiba, Bouygues Immobilier, Transdev, Grand Lyon Habitat.publishedVersio
Regeneration and networks in the Arts District (Los Angeles): rethinking governance models in the production of urbanity
No full textThis article analyses the governance arrangements underlying the regeneration process of a central area in Los Angeles from the 1970s until now. The Arts District is emblematic of this rising interest from developers in central places that were just 45 years ago either ‘no man’s land’ or illegally occupied by artists. The analysis applies three main governance models that have been used in contemporary research to explain urban regeneration processes – Private type; Bottom-up; and Consensus-building – to look at the following research question: Are these models sufficient to characterise regeneration processes in the network society context? Data for the analysis were collected through semi-structured interviews with social actors as well as from policy documents related to adaptive re-use. The main finding is that the governance arrangements during the main phase of the regeneration of the area do not fit with the governance models utilised for the analysis. A group of new entrepreneurs are active in re(scaling) processes: they use ‘spaceless’ interactions – professional networks at the national scale – to influence the evolution of the area. The ANT framework is used to analyse why and how these networks play in the regeneration process. The innovative regeneration process is like a ‘translation’ process where professional networks play an important role in ‘enrolling actors’ but also in ‘circulating the translation’, thus establishing this regeneration model at the national scale in America
