Creative Cities Event Series: September 2021 – April 2022
Creative Cities Event Series: September 2021 – April 2022
Creativity and innovation are among the driving forces reshaping cities worldwide. With COVID-19 pandemic, the world is rethinking the concept of our cities, neighborhoods and communities more than ever. Creative industries, and the shaping of urban spaces with creative assets, are among the catalyzing agents of newly adopted ways or reimagining cities. With the appropriate enabling environment, these approaches can help build creative cities that become the economic and social growth engines of the future – providing a new source of city competitiveness by accessing opportunities of the intangible economy in an integrated manner with urban transformation. As part of our new urban development, The World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) is exploring the new concept of creative cities.
TDLC is organizing a Creative Cities Event Series to be held from September 2021 to April 2022. The event series will coincide with, and build upon, the launch of the two reports that have been published by the World Bank in summer, 2021: “Cities, Culture, Creativity : Leveraging Culture and Creativity for Sustainable Urban Development and Inclusive Growth” published by the World Bank in cooperation with UNESCO; and “Kyoto: A Creative City – Leveraging creativity for city competitiveness and inclusive urban development”, a case study published by the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) that unpacks the story of two distinct Kyoto neighborhoods, each with its distinct character and narrative. This event will explore the role of creative spaces in urban transformation and increased economic activity.
This event series aims to attract wide audience from World Bank colleagues to Japanese city practitioners and creative talents, and to serve as an open platform for discussing the potential for creativity to impact the economy, urban spatial transformation, and inclusiveness. It will also provide an opportunity for participants to learn from Japanese and international experiences on how different forms of creativity have unleashed a city’s potential, what are the factors that made it possible, and how this can be applied to other cities.
How can we rethink cities after the COVID-19 by leveraging creative communities? To answer this question, TDLC brought the experts of World Bank and UNESCO to discuss together what their thoughts are during this pandemic in the first event of the Creative Cities Event Series. There were an open discussion on the topics including the framework and relationship between cities, culture and creativity, joined by those who analyze the impact of creative communities around the world.
Please watch the recorded sessions from the links below.
Cities, Culture, Creativity: Leveraging Culture and Creativity for Sustainable Urban Development and Inclusive Growth
Presenter
Ahmed Eiweida
Global Coordinator for Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism, World Bank
Panelists
Victor Mulas
Senior Urban Specialist and TDLC Team Lead, World Bank
Ayah Mahgoub
Senior Urban Development Specialist, Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank
Dmitry Sivaev
Urban Specialist, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank
Reiko Yoshida
Head of the Programmes and Stakeholders Unit, UNESCO
Moderator
Haruka Miki-Imoto
Operations Officer, TDLC, World Bank
*In no particular order.
English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNnqWqz4OTo
Japanese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsEhSZYkHKg
Creative neighborhoods and spaces have been the vessels of culture and innovation within cities. They act as catalysts in stimulating creativity, which has been a vehicle for economic growth and social development. On this episode of the “Creative Cities Event Series”, we took you through Kyoto City, home to UNESCO-designated heritage sites of culture and tradition. But also, a place that a growing community of artists, entrepreneurs and startups call home.
We examined the role of creative neighborhoods and its spaces as catalyzers in transforming local neighborhoods and communities. How do creative spaces bring together creators, makers, entrepreneurs, and artists? What drives creative talents and entrepreneurs to Kyoto? On this episode, we explored and discussed these topics with the local creative space founders.
Please watch the recorded sessions from the links below.
Program
Opening Remarks
Toshinori Tsuchihashi
Chief Tourism Officer, City of Kyoto
Presentation: Leveraging Creativity for City Competitiveness and Inclusive Urban Transformation
Victor Mulas
Senior Urban Specialist and TDLC Team Lead, World Bank
Haruka Miki Imoto
Operations Officer, World Bank
Panel Discussion
Mitsuhiro Suwa
Co-Founder and President, Loftwork
Narimasa Makino
Co-Founder & CEO, Monozukuri Ventures
Moderator
Victor Mulas
Senior Urban Specialist and TDLC Team Lead, World Bank
James Lee
Knowledge Management Analyst, World Bank
*In no particular order.
English: https://youtu.be/zgQ0Lyj0zYQ
Japanese: https://youtu.be/1bOpP0ACmLY
Today, the Setouchi islands are an iconic landmark destination for art-lovers worldwide. However, this was not the case in back in 1990. At that time, the Setouchi islands were a depressed industrial area suffering from a declining population. Today, the islands attract a constant flow of sophisticated art-lovers and visitors in a careful balance with environmental sustainability. Setouchi Triennale was a key catalyzer of this transformation. Ten years before, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, in Niigata region, had started in another rural and agricultural area in Japan, and it was a model for Setouchi Triennale.
The cases of Setouchi and Echigo-Tsumari demonstrate that with the proper methodologies, art festivals can become a powerful tool for development of depressed and vulnerable areas. In this event, we explored how to leverage art festivals as a tool for development. We learned from Fram Kitagawa, who has been developing and pioneering art-led regional revitalization in Japan for over 20 years and who is the mastermind behind the iconic Setouchi and Echigo-Tsumari Art Festivals. We also explored how to translate this methodology beyond Japan with the experience of Sri Lanka, where the World Bank partnered with Fram Kitagawa and the government of Sri Lanka to operationalize this art festival methodology.
Please watch the recorded session from the link below.
PROGRAM
Presentation: Art Opens Up Local Possibilities
Fram Kitagawa
Chairman, Art Front Gallery
Discussion: Bringing Creative Industries and Local Economic Development in Sri Lanka to Full Circle
Yarissa Lyngdoh Sommer
Senior Urban Specialist, World Bank
Victor Mulas
Senior Urban Specialist and TDLC Team Lead, World Bank
Moderator
Victor Mulas
Senior Urban Specialist and TDLC Team Lead, World Bank
*In no particular order.
Recording
English: https://youtu.be/NLT_iUD5aR8
Japanese: https://youtu.be/t7KY6guSJ2E