Charles Landry
Encyclopedia
Charles Landry is best known for having written the book The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators. The creative city
has now become a global movement to rethink the planning, development and management of cities. Previously he founded the think tank Comedia
in 1978, which pioneered the connection between culture, creativity and city transformation.
Charles Landry was born in 1948 and brought up and educated in Britain
, Germany
and Italy
.
happening at that time. He argues that in such changing circumstances creativity at every level is required to address and adapt appropriately. He posits that conditions need to be created for people to think, plan and act with imagination in harnessing opportunities or addressing seemingly intractable urban problems
. This means a city needs to embed a culture of creativity in the way it operates and to infuse how all of its organizations operate. Initially there was a focus on the contribution of the arts
and the creative industries in driving innovation in cities and helping to make them distinctive. Increasingly he has emphasized how the organizational culture
needs to change to unleash the potential, resources and assets of a city. Traditional hierarchical structures restrict ideas generation and rethinking.
He contrasts the urban engineering approach to cities with creative city making. In the former there is a focus on the physical infrastructure
or the hardware of the city, in the latter equal attention is paid to both hardware and software issues. Software is the human dynamics of a place, its connections and relationships as well as atmosphere.
In his follow up book, The Art of City Making, he discusses "the sensory landscape of cities" and how creativity needs to change its focus and be linked to an ethical
foundation. This he calls being creative "for the world" so cities give something back to the wider community. He argues that the popularity of the term creativity
is in danger of hollowing out the concept and making it meaningless. A main focus of creativity should be on addressing global issues and behavioural issues such as climate change
or the balance between rich and poor
. In addition a role of creativity is to help make cities more distinctive given the danger of homogeneity and global branding.
His recent work with his colleague Phil Wood has focused on the idea of The Intercultural City. This looks at how diversity
in cities can become an advantage and whether diversity can lead to innovation
and wealth
creation. Interculturalism
goes beyond equal opportunities
and respect for existing cultural differences
, to the pluralist transformation of public space
, institution
s and civic culture.
The publication of the John Howkins'
book The Creative Economy and Richard Florida
’s The Rise of the Creative Class gave the creativity cities movement
added popularity.
in the late 1970s. For many years, a changing group of people developed projects concerned with urban life
, culture and creativity and the future of cities. Many individuals like Ken Worpole, Franco Bianchini, Phil Wood, Peter Hall
, Geoff Mulgan
, Jude Bloomfield, Naseem Khan contributed to Comedia. This resulted in over 500 projects across the globe
and more than a 100 publications.
Initially Comedia’s publishing wing was most well known. This had an impact on the development of cultural studies
and urban planning
. Later Comedia’s research became better known. Long term projects included The Creative City, Culture at the Crossroads, The Art of Regeneration, Richness of Cities, and Creativity at the Heart of Culture.
Creative City
Creative City launched by Fujairah Media, as an alternative to Dubai Media City aims to attract regional and International broadcast TV and radio providers to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. While also providing creative media related services....
has now become a global movement to rethink the planning, development and management of cities. Previously he founded the think tank Comedia
Comedia (consultancy)
Comedia was founded in Britain in 1978 by Charles Landry. It stands for a combination of 'communication' and 'media'. Initially Comedia was a publisher focusing on two areas: how activist organizations got their message across and second it described the dynamics of the emerging cultural industries...
in 1978, which pioneered the connection between culture, creativity and city transformation.
Charles Landry was born in 1948 and brought up and educated in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Outlook and concepts
Charles Landry coined the term the creative city in the late 1980s in response to the dramatic economic and social changesThatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
happening at that time. He argues that in such changing circumstances creativity at every level is required to address and adapt appropriately. He posits that conditions need to be created for people to think, plan and act with imagination in harnessing opportunities or addressing seemingly intractable urban problems
Urban economics
Urban economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas; as such, it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government finance...
. This means a city needs to embed a culture of creativity in the way it operates and to infuse how all of its organizations operate. Initially there was a focus on the contribution of the arts
The arts
The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts – music, theatre, dance and...
and the creative industries in driving innovation in cities and helping to make them distinctive. Increasingly he has emphasized how the organizational culture
Organizational culture
Organizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...
needs to change to unleash the potential, resources and assets of a city. Traditional hierarchical structures restrict ideas generation and rethinking.
He contrasts the urban engineering approach to cities with creative city making. In the former there is a focus on the physical infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
or the hardware of the city, in the latter equal attention is paid to both hardware and software issues. Software is the human dynamics of a place, its connections and relationships as well as atmosphere.
In his follow up book, The Art of City Making, he discusses "the sensory landscape of cities" and how creativity needs to change its focus and be linked to an ethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
foundation. This he calls being creative "for the world" so cities give something back to the wider community. He argues that the popularity of the term creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
is in danger of hollowing out the concept and making it meaningless. A main focus of creativity should be on addressing global issues and behavioural issues such as climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
or the balance between rich and poor
System justification
System justification theory is a scientific theory within social psychology that proposes people have a motivation to defend and bolster the status quo, that is, to see it as good, legitimate, and desirable....
. In addition a role of creativity is to help make cities more distinctive given the danger of homogeneity and global branding.
His recent work with his colleague Phil Wood has focused on the idea of The Intercultural City. This looks at how diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
in cities can become an advantage and whether diversity can lead to innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
and wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
creation. Interculturalism
Interculturalism
Interculturalism is the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society, as used by nationalists of the Canadian province of Quebec. Quebeckers have historically been sensitive to any perceived degradation of their heritage...
goes beyond equal opportunities
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
and respect for existing cultural differences
Cultural identity
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
, to the pluralist transformation of public space
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
, institution
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
s and civic culture.
The publication of the John Howkins'
John Howkins
John Anthony Howkins is a widely-cited British author and frequent international keynote speaker on the Creative Industries with particular expertise in the development of this economic sector in China...
book The Creative Economy and Richard Florida
Richard Florida
Richard Florida is an American urban studies theorist.Richard Florida's focus is on social and economic theory. He is currently a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. He also heads a private consulting firm, the...
’s The Rise of the Creative Class gave the creativity cities movement
Creative City
Creative City launched by Fujairah Media, as an alternative to Dubai Media City aims to attract regional and International broadcast TV and radio providers to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. While also providing creative media related services....
added popularity.
Comedia
Charles Landry launched ComediaComedia (consultancy)
Comedia was founded in Britain in 1978 by Charles Landry. It stands for a combination of 'communication' and 'media'. Initially Comedia was a publisher focusing on two areas: how activist organizations got their message across and second it described the dynamics of the emerging cultural industries...
in the late 1970s. For many years, a changing group of people developed projects concerned with urban life
Urban culture
Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
, culture and creativity and the future of cities. Many individuals like Ken Worpole, Franco Bianchini, Phil Wood, Peter Hall
Peter Hall (urbanist)
Sir Peter Geoffrey Hall, FBA is an English town planner, urbanist and geographer. He is the Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at The Bartlett, University College London and President of both the Town and Country Planning Association and the Regional Studies Association.He is...
, Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan
Geoff Mulgan is Chief Executive of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts and Visiting Professor at University College, London, the London School of Economics and the University of Melbourne...
, Jude Bloomfield, Naseem Khan contributed to Comedia. This resulted in over 500 projects across the globe
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and more than a 100 publications.
Initially Comedia’s publishing wing was most well known. This had an impact on the development of cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
and urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
. Later Comedia’s research became better known. Long term projects included The Creative City, Culture at the Crossroads, The Art of Regeneration, Richness of Cities, and Creativity at the Heart of Culture.
Publications
- The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators
- The Art of City Making
- The Intercultural City