Creative Cities
International conference; Creative Cities: Opportunities, Policies and Places
The international conference Creative Cities: Opportunities, Policies and Places took place at Ljubljana Castle and was organized by the partners of the European projects Creative Cities and Second Chance: RRA LUR, MOL, IER as well as the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. The conference was an opportunity for local and foreign guests to become familiar with international trends and the debate on the solutions for the efficient placement of the creative and cultural industries into the broader development plans of the city and region within Slovenia and in the partner cities within Europe.
The successful development of the creative industries is based on the knowledge of the potentials and specific characteristics of the city
- Tom Fleming, consultant and strategist in the field of cultural policies, the creative economy, art and innovation, director of the established international consulting firm Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, presented the key steps in the development of the creative industries in his lecture, highlighted the arguments for encouraging the emergence of creative clusters and presented successful English and international examples of the creative industries. Fleming believes that the development of the creative industries within the city and the region brings many positive effects to the regional economy and helps to create an attractive image of the city. The creative industries can be successfully developed in both large cities and small towns. “Often cities use generic solutions from other cities for the development of creativity without taking into account local specifics, which can distance the project of the creative city from the local population, and it is then not adopted by the latter. Such projects are generally unsuccessful,” warned Fleming.
The creative industries represent the opportunity for the development of contemporary cities, but are not the solution to all the development challenges of cities and regions
- Klaus R. Kunzmann, professor of urban planning and reputable international consultant in the field of spatial planning policies presented a trend – The Creative City Fever, which is taking over postmodern cities that are all in turn wishing to become creative and in such a way create a new identity for themselves. In many cases, the creation of the creative images takes on the function of creating a brand for the city, which does not necessarily lead to the successful development of the creative industries with any real economic and social effects.
The idea of the creative city and Slovenia’s economic, spatial and cultural policies
The lecture was followed by a round table at which prof. Kunzmann and dr. Fleming, as well as moderator prof. Marjan Hočevar from the Faculty of Social Sciences, were joined by: Miran Gajšek, Head of the Department of Regional Planning, Municipality of Ljubljana; dr. Pavel Gantar, sociologist, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana and current President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia; and dr. Stojan Pelko, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
A detailed report of the event can be found on the RDA LUR website by following this link. Video footage of the two speakers can be viewed by following this link.