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Charles Landry
Charles
Landry was born in 1948 and studied in Britain, Germany and Italy and is tri-lingual.
He founded Comedia, Europe's leading cultural planning consultancy, in 1978.
Comedia has worked in 35 countries including Australia, Bosnia, The Netherlands,
Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, South Africa, Finland, Sweden,
the USA, Hon Kong,Ukraine, Croatia, New Zealand and Yemen. During that time
it has undertaken several hundred projects concerned with revitalising public,
social and economic life through cultural activity; quality of life studies;
cultural industry development projects and city and regional strategies. Most
recently Comedia has been involved in 6 major programmes. They concern an
international study on creative cities and creative urban milieux; the social
impact of the arts; the future of public libraries and the development of
the idea of the informed citizen; the role of public parks and public space;
the future of the non-profit sector; the viability and vitality of cities.
He has been responsible for over 180 assignments for national and local authorities
and funding agencies both in the UK and abroad.
He is regarded as an international authority on city futures and the use of culture in city revitalization; cultural planning and heritage issues, strategic policy development, the cultural industries. His book ‘The Creative City: A toolkit for urban innovators’ (2000) has received widespread acclaim. His most recent books are: ‘Culture at the Crossroads: Culture and cultural institutions at the beginning of the 21st century’. (with Marc Pachter, 2001) and ‘Riding the rapids: Urban life in an age of complexity (2004). He has lectured widely in Europe, the USA, Australia and Africa and has presented over 150 keynote addresses on a diversity of topics.
In the last period he has undertaken the following major projects:
• Part of think tank to review Canadian cultural policy, Calgary. July 2004
• Lecture tour of Norway on new approaches to city masking and planning. June 2004
• On behalf of the Swiss Co-operation Programme developing a creative places strategy, programme and organizational structure for Albania. Ongoing
• Week long residency at the Canberra Festival of Creativity and Innovation May 2004
• Creative region strategy for Salem, New England. April 2004
• ‘Thinker in Residence’ for South Australia advising the premier and state on greater Adelaide’s future potential. 2003
• Advising Leicester in its attempts to re-position the city over the next decade through a project called ‘Leicester Revealed’ involving the establishment of a series of thematic years. 2003
• Working with Tiblisi in Georgia on an integrated cultural policy for the city. 2003
• Chairman of the South Tyneside ‘Transformation Commission seeking to revive the district focusing on rethinking the district’s economic and social base. Leading to publication ‘Ordinary to Extraordinary: Transforming South Tyneside’s Futures’ January 2002 onwards
• Chairman of the Culture and Urban Development Commission for Lewisham resulting in a long term development programme called ‘Creative Lewisham’. Chair of its advisory board. November 2000 to July 2001.
• In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute and Getty Foundation involved in research on the ‘Conditions of Culture and Cultural Institutions at the Beginning of the 21st Century’, resulting in a summit in Venice in November 2001 and the publication of a book of the same title.
• Co-organiser of the Birmingham Highbury 3 Summit to assess Birmingham’s long term future under the theme ‘a city of flourishing neighbourhoods’. Continued two year involvement on implementing three agendas on: inter-cultural planning, maximizing the potential of the city’s creative economy and IT connectivity. 2001
• ‘Transformative Effects’ an evaluation of Helsinki’s European Cultural Capital Year 2000 assessing in particular its ‘invisible’ impacts as well as proposing a vision of the city’s cultural future. November 2001
• Director of the International Creative Cities Project on reinventing cities for the 21st century, involving courses in Amsterdam, Macau and Helsinki . Ongoing
• Based for a year at The World Bank in Washington advising them on their strategy for culture and cities world-wide and now working for the Bank on special assignments. 1999 onwards
• Advisor to the West Australian Ministry of Planning on Perth’s vision involving a creativity audit and talent strategy. Spring 2001
• Participant in peer review team assessing New Zealand’s national museum Te Papa. Summer 2000
• Advisor to the South African government on crafts, music, publishing and film development and establishment of a Newtown Development Agency. 1997-1999
• Cultural strategy framework for Yemen’s three world heritage cities Sana’a, Shibam and Zabid. 1999
• Reimagining Britain Abroad: Branding the British Council in Germany.1998
• National evaluations of the potential of cultural heritage, contemporary culture and cultural tourism in Bulgaria, Croatia and Bosnia on behalf of the Council of Europe. From 1997 onwards and continuing.
• Joint co-ordinator of the St. Petersburg 'Strategies for Survival' initiative focusing on the city's 90 museums on behalf of the Know How Fund and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. 1997 onwards ongoing.
• Innovative and sustainable European cities: An analysis of best practices in 15 countries in collaboration with Peter Hall on behalf of the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (1997).
• London as a world city: The position of culture, leisure and tourism
as compared to Paris, Tokyo and New York. 1991, updated 1996.
• Co-director of the 'Informed Citizen' Project on the future of the
public library and its links to the emerging knowledge economy and lifelong
learning.' Completed 1997.
• Joint director international action research project on the social impact of cultural programmes, involving 9 case studies. Completed spring 1997
• Advisor Adelaide 21 Project - 1996
• Director of 25 cultural planning and cultural industries studies including in Helsinki, Mantua, Milan, Gdansk, Cracow, Barcelona, Glasgow, Sydney, Manchester and St. Petersburg. Completed in 1992/99
• Directing Comedia's contribution to the UK Department of the Environment research project on the Viability and Vitality in Towns Centres. Published as ‘Vital and Viable Town Centres’ summer 1994
• Co-director of the joint Comedia/Demos project on the Future of the
Non-Profit Sector, published as ‘The Other Invisible Hand: Remaking
Charity for the 21st Century’ July 1995
Speech
The Creative City and beyond
The Creative City is an increasingly popular term. What is its substance?
Which cities have really been creative? What are the obstacles to becoming
a creative city?
Landry's idea of the Creative City goes well beyond the current attention
for the so-called 'creative class' that make some cities more sucessfull than
others. Rather, it focuses on the cultural resources as the core of innovation
in the city, and challenges us to develop strategies to manage different kinds
of creative developments. In this perspective, every city in the world has
a niche that planners can help to develop around specific cultural resources.
The 'creative city' concept points at a new paradigm for urban change, and
a new agenda for cities in the knowledge economy. What then are the necessary
conditions and successful strategies for making cities into creative cities?
How to organise an environment where the local cultural resources can be harnessed?
