Cities have the power to stimulate and harness culture, creativity and innovation for local development. Culture and creativity are invaluable assets with untapped potential to deliver spatial, economic and social dividends for both cities and local communities. Building on the Cities, Culture, and Creativity Framework jointly developed by the World Bank and UNESCO and reviewing lessons learned from cities around the world, this paper discusses how local governments can effectively leverage their decision making, convening power and financial resources to enable and support cultural and creative industries (CCIs) to flourish for city competitiveness. Specifically, the paper examines how local governments can foster the enabling environment and channel the support through their core functions and roles of: 1) public procurement; 2) service delivery; 3) regulating public and private space; and 4) facilitating enterprise support and incentives.

Through strategic interventions across these domains and collaboration with key stakeholders, local governments can implement measures to address the constraints impeding the development and growth of CCIs and leverage them as a critical driver of sustainable urban development. While the degree of decentralisation of responsibilities, resources and capacities of each local government may differ, global experiences illustrate that the common denominator is visionary leadership that puts in place the policies and catalyses the enabling conditions to attract and nurture CCIs, coupled with the key creativity ingredients — local talent and the uniqueness of the place.

Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Volume 15 Number 2