The Paint Factory Placebook - Report - Page 32
THE PAINT FACTORY, 115 HYDE ROAD, YERONGA
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC BENEFIT
CREATING COMMUNITY AND CHARACTER
Cultural and creative industries contribute to cultural vitality
and community development by providing local stories,
enhanced identity of a place, development of symbolic
capital, increased connectivity, and knowledge outcomes.
Creative activity shapes the competitive character of a city
by enhancing both its innovative capacity and the quality of
place so crucial to attracting and retaining skilled workers.
There is a broad consensus that the ability to generate,
attract, and retain skilled and enterprising people – talent
– is essential to sustained economic success.
More and more, the success of new creative and art clusters
is helping to transform physical spaces and solidify places as
globally renowned creative cities. Local creative entrepreneurs are
creating jobs while also contributing to the quality of communities.
Because these people and businesses are typically deeply
connected and involved in community life, their practices can
be more balanced in terms of economic and social goals.
In 2018 a European Commission report stressed that “even
when large companies dominate in the market, small and
micro-enterprises play a crucial role in creativity and
innovation as they are flexible risk-takers and leaders of
transformation”. How urban centres prepare to become
cultural and creative ecosystems and destinations is
fundamental to their success.
In 2021 the World Bank and UNESCO released the ‘Cities,
Culture, Creativity: Leveraging Culture and Creativity for
Sustainable Urban Development and Inclusive Growth’ report
which explored how cities were benefitting from an “enabled
culture and creativity”. The authors found that cultural and
creative industries (CCIs) improve quality of life and foster
greater social cohesion, resulting in important network effects,
and influencing relationships, ideation, and production.
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Some cities, recognising that artists help build communities
through initiatives such as communal gardens, architectural and
historic preservation, inner city youth programs, free art classes,
concerts, dance performance, children’s theatre, mobile libraries
and so forth, have begun to relegate buildings specifically for
artists’ use, and some of these projects also recognise the need to
encourage transgenerational housing as part of this concept.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RESIDENTIAL
A growing body of research indicates that the strict land
use zones that were enforced during the 20th century
have resulted in a myriad of problems for cities of today.
Long commuting times, isolated living and working
environments, dying local retail centres are the result
of separating uses. Importantly, for creative precincts,
housing can ensure the viability of creatives spaces through
increased footfall and diversified revenues models.