Creative Cities

This editorial, written by Investing in Children, appeared in the London Free Press in response to the newspaper's Creative City series. Investing in Children is organizing a Creative Cities Conference in London on June 9-10, 2005. E-mail info@investinginchildren.on.ca to be added to receive updated conference info.

Being a Creative City means so much more than just having a performing arts centre or an arts district. It’s a bigger-picture state of mind: it’s about creativity in all its forms and about creating a quality of life that attracts and retains creative, skilled people and enables them to flourish.

Creativity as a force for economic growth in the knowledge economy is a theory popularized by Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, and it is encouraging to see these ideas taking root in London, as shown by Sandra Coulson’s Creative City series.

Unfortunately, the series missed the majority of Florida’s theory, and the problem lies in the over-emphasis on the arts community. By focusing so exclusively on the arts, the series ignored the broader strokes, such as where exactly these new jobs and economic growth will come from. Having a strong and vibrant arts community is certainly a vital piece of the puzzle, but that alone will not be the panacea the Creative City series suggests.

The key to Florida’s theory are the 3 Ts: talent, technology and tolerance. He says, “Each is a necessary but by itself insufficient condition: To attract creative people, generate innovation and stimulate economic growth, a place must have all three.”

Technology is the measure of innovation and high-technology business. North America is shifting from an industrial economy to a knowledge or information economy. Innovation and entrepreneurship in these emerging fields are growing, while the manufacturing base is shrinking. London has a growing technology and life sciences sector and given an environment that attracts and retains skilled employees, there is the potential for significant job and financial growth.

Talent is the measure of human capital, based on the level of education amongst adults. Florida’s research shows a correlation between centres of innovation and the number of highly educated people. 44% of Londoners 25-64 have either a college or university education. Each year, UWO and Fanshawe College graduate thousands of students; keeping these educated workers in London will drive our economy.

Tolerance represents openness to a number of factors, including gays, bohemians and immigrants. An open-minded community attracts talented people, while a less tolerant community not only misses out on creative people, but repels their own talented citizens. Within this broader category resides arts and culture.

However, our culture can’t be solely defined by the arts. London’s culture is Orchestra London, the Grand Theatre and Museum London, but it’s also history, festivals, the London Knights and other sports groups, restaurants, multicultural communities, the forests and so much more.

London shares many similar traits with other Creative Cities: an educated workforce, a centre of innovation and research in UWO, a growing high-technology sector, a diverse population and a strong cultural core. It is whether we recognize and maximize these assets that will determine whether London truly becomes a Creative City.