Creative City

Call for Submissions: Cultural Mapping as Cultural Inquiry

Cultural mapping, which spans many academic disciplines and methodologies, is informed by the observation that cultural phenomena are distributed spatially and that people experience the symbolic resources of their communities in spatial terms. While cultural mapping is firmly grounded in the world of academic disciplines and inquiry, it has a pragmatic dimension as well. In the Creative City Network of Canada’s Cultural Mapping Toolkit, for example, Cultural Mapping is defined pragmatically as “a process of collecting, recording, analyzing and synthesizing information in order to describe the cultural resources, networks, links and patterns of usage of a given community or group.” Cultural mapping is generally regarded as a systematic tool to identify and record local cultural assets—and these assets are thought of as “tangible” or quantitative (physical spaces, cultural organizations, public forms of promotion and self-representation, programs, cultural industries, natural heritage, cultural heritage, people, and resources) and “intangible” or qualitative (community narratives, values, relationships, rituals, traditions, history, shared sense of place). Together these assets help define communities in terms of cultural identity, vitality, sense of place, and quality of life.

Cultural mapping, then, is a theoretically informed research practice and a highly pragmatic planning and development tool.  But cultural mapping can also be viewed as a form of cultural production and expression. Mapping can itself be cultural—that is, animated by artists and artistic approaches to mapping collective and competing senses of place, space, and community. The Folkvine project in Florida (and the work of the Florida Research Ensemble generally); the memory mapping work of Marlene Creates and Ernie Kroeger; the storymapping of First Nations experiences in small cities documented by the Small Cities CURA; Map Art and Diagram Art from the Surrealists to the Situationists to the work of contemporary artists; Sound Mapping, sonic geographies, and acoustic ecology research: these alternative approaches to mapping culture and community are helping to expand and refine the possibilities for mapping as a form of cultural inquiry.

The editors of Cultural Mapping as Cultural Inquiry seek submissions that address cultural mapping in all its forms and applications. Abstracts and inquiries should be sent by March 30, 2012 to Dr. W.F. Garrett-Petts, Faculty of Arts, Thompson Rivers University: petts@tru.ca

Editors for the refereed book publication (to be published jointly by the Centro de Estudos Sociais at the University of Coimbra, Textual Studies in Canada and the Small Cities Community-University Research Alliance): David MacLennan, W.F. Garrett-Petts, and Nancy Duxbury.

Centro de Estudos Sociais: www.ces.uc.pt

The Small Cities CURA: www.smallcities.ca

Call for Papers: Beyond the Creative City

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Special Issue: Beyond the Creative City
Portugal

The “Cities, Cultures, and Architecture Research Group” of the Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra is going to publish a special journal issue called “Beyond the Creative City” in December 2012. Therefore it calls for papers on the topic of urban development and its effect on local cultures and heritage. Creative city investments and initiatives play an important role in this field, but they get into the focus of heavy critique. Thus the editors search for alternative approaches to urban futures, with a sustainable environment, society and economy and attention payed to inclusion and social equity, to make it short: approaches with a higher cultural sensivity.

The call for papers is not only directed to architects and cultural politicians, but also aims at researchers from the fields of sociology,  anthropology, arts, cultural studies, as well as other disciplines confronted with urban space. Possible topics for investigation are:

urban lifestyles and means of resistance, socioeconomic conditions and empowerment of residents through artistic/cultural initiatives, the impacts of tourism and ‘creative city’ initiatives on cities over the last decade, affirmations of cultural expressions, and the democratic governance of cities.
Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais (RCCS) publishes the results of advanced research in all fields of social and human sciences in four issues per year. As Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais is a peer-reviewed journal, all submitted works are graded by three reviewers, and ranked in terms of quality for this special issue. 6-8 articles will be chosen for publication as well as  4-5 book reviews.

The submission deadline for articles is 31 March 2012. Articles can be sent in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish to the following email address: rccs [at] ces [dot] uc [dot] pt

For more information please visit: http://www.ces.uc.pt/rccs/index.php or download the Call for Papers as PDF file here: CFP Beyond the Creative City

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

‘Pool – Creative City Projects

This post comes to you from Cultura21

What does “pool” in “Liverpool” stand for? It is the goal of ‘Pool to explore, reveal and celebrate the origins of the city of Liverpool and in so doing to contemplate and influence the city’s future. Through walks, picnics, celebrations, conferrings and positive documentation, ‘Pool works with communities in Liverpool to raise awareness about the ecology and social dynamics of their spaces.

Current projects:

1) Earth: Seed: Nurture: Grow reveals unused land in a series of monthly events which challenge the understanding of neglected urban spaces.

2) Growing Granby is a collaboration with Granby Adult Learning Centre to provide a course exploring sustainability past, present and future in the Granby triangle of Liverpool.

3) Construction Site is an exhibition which looks at the changes of the city and invites citicens to have their say.

For more information visit: www.poolproject.co.uk.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Creating Cities: Culture, Space, and Sustainability – The City, Culture, and Society (CCS) Conference

Jointly organized by Japan Center, Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology and Institute for European Ethnology, and Seminar of Economic History of Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, and Urban Research Plaza of Osaka City University

supported by

The Japan Foundation, Osaka City University, State Ministry for Social Affairs of Bavaria, Münchener Universitätsgesellschaft

The conference Creating Cities: Culture, Space and Sustainability, which will take place from 25 to 27 February 2010, investigates the forces that shape the conditions of urban development and the creation of cities in comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. In recent years, the notion of the „creative city“ has become a guiding framework for thinking about the present and future state of cities and their capability of coping with the impact and challenges of globalization. Cities are regarded as engines of regional, national, and global economic growth because they are the key centers for cultural production and consumption and target areas for mobility and migration. They are also contested sites because of increasing cultural and social diversity. Simultaneously, cities use cultural diversity and even counter-cultures to display appealing images and representations of creativity and innovation. Many citizens aspire to live and work in the cosmopolitan global environments that only metropolitan centers seem to be able to provide, but cities also provide vital space for the challenged, homeless, and other socially disadvantaged groups. The resolution of social disparities is consequently becoming an urgent policy task. Environmental and social sustainability, urban revitalization and amenity are major keywords of our time.

In this context, this conference focuses on the interactions among culture, sustainability, and space. We would like to emphasize inquiry into the dynamics of cultural creativity, industries and production, the risks and benefits of both cultural diversity and social inclusion or exclusion, the sustainability of efforts to plan and redesign the urban built environment to promote creativity, and the identity politics of representations of the city and creativity in the popular imagination as well as spaces of heritage and tourism. We recognize that there are many different groups and focal points related to creating cities, so one major purpose of this conference is to create a framework in which both practitioners and researchers of different disciplines can interact and share ideas about how urban environments are being transformed.

Introductory Session: Creating Cities & Creative Cities

As global market forces penetrate hitherto closed rural areas wherever market liberalization occurs, urbanization, too, is progressing rapidly. Even though regional differences obviously do exist the global ratio of urban population has now crossed the 50-percent line. While mega cities may be one of the most conspicuous phenomena of the present urbanization the term urban must be understood in a much broader sense. The fact that the majority of urban dwellers still lives in smaller and medium-sized settlements is frequently overlooked. Only through a combined effort of local supplier development, national institutional support, and foreign investment can there be any real benefits from for example creative cluster development and economies of scale and scope. Two prominent regions of Southeast Asia, namely the Greater Mekong Region and Singapore, will serve as examples as this session will investigate the relationship between the process of creating cities and the making of creative cities.

Session 1: Creative Diversity, Socioscapes, and Cultural Politics

This session critically reviews current notions and implications of cultural diversity in cities by bringing together broadly three strands: representation, socioscapes, and cultural politics. The interplay between creating particular urban images and the urban condition of particular socioscapes, ranging from less empowered groups such as those that are affected by transnational precarization to elite diasporas, will be examined.

Session 2: City Marketing

Cities are increasingly undertaking marketing activities to support their local economy. By way of example, this section will look at how city marketing may cope with challenges in terms of communication content, tools or media, and with regard to underlying organizational structures and processes.

Session 3: Mobility and Built Environment

Mobility is a crucial aspect of globalization and the development of more efficient mobility systems on a grand scale is a significant locus for planning activity in global cities. This session will compare and contrast corporate and planning approaches to mobility issues in several global cities.

Session 4: Networks

Global cities rely upon networks with other cities, and the institutions, infrastructure, character, extent and effects of such inter-city networking are the subject for this session. It will identify the possibilities and constraints on such network development.

See also the detailed conference program (as of 2010-01-14, pdf format, 600 KB).

Please note:

  • The conference will take place at the IBZ Munich, Amalienstraße 38, D-80799 Munich / Germany (how to get there).
  • Admission fee (regular/student) will be EUR 40/20 for the whole conference, or EUR 20/10 for participation on Thursday and EUR 10/5 for participation on Friday or Saturday, respectively.
  • If you would like to attend the conference, please register until February 15th, 2010 via E-Mail schicken an osakamuc2010@lrz.uni-muenchen.de E-Mail(Subject: Registration Creating Cities)
  • Please also consult our list of accomodations near the conference site.
  • For the duration of the symposium (25-27 February) our invited guests will be staying at the Savoy Hotel Munich at Amalienstrasse 25 (Tel. +49 (0) 89 / 287870 - how to get there). At the hotel, they will receive the conference folder, containing also a map with the symposium venue indicated. The symposium venue is literally just down the street, at Amalienstrasse 38, i.e. in easy walking distance (cf. the Google Maps location of the hotel).

Prof. Dr. Evelyn Schulz

LMU Japan Center

phone: +49 89 / 2180-9800
fax: +49 89 / 2180-9801

For further inquiries, please E-Mail schicken an osakamuc2010@lrz.uni-muenchen.de E-Mail us.

via Veranstaltungen – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.