Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth

Over the past three decades, the European Capital of Culture has grown into one of the most ambitious cultural programs in the world. Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth will appeal to international scholars and students in organization studies, geography, city governance and planning, urban design and urban and regional development.

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'The authors set out to develop a framework that explains if and how co-creation can be used as ''strategy-as-practice.'' In doing so, they have produced a wonderful case study on co-creating a city's living and public space, the next movement and cultural turn following the ''creative class'' studies in urban design. There are innovative uses of narrative analysis to provide multiple perspectives of the co-creative process. It contains valuable insights for anyone interested in urban design.'
- Hans Hansen, Texas Tech University

'The book makes a very important contribution to the strategy-as-practice field as it proposes a thorough ethnography about how governments, academia, business, non-profits and citizens engage themselves in the strategic and collaborative process of planning. Drawing on a comprehensive and compelling notion of ''action nets'', the book provides a fascinating interpretive explanation that will be inspiring as well as for academics and practitioners. This timely volume raises a host of fascinating issues related to organizing and strategizing as ''co-creative practices'' and will be an invaluable resource across multiple domains and organizational research areas. Moreover, the book will convince you that ''small is beautiful''!'
- Linda Rouleau, HEC Montreal, Canada

Over the past three decades, the European Capital of Culture has grown into one of the most ambitious cultural programs in the world. Through the promotion of cultural diversity across the continent, the program fosters mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue among citizens, thereby increasing their sense of belonging to a community. This insightful book outlines potential avenues through which culture and creativity can raise the imaginative capability of citizens and harness opportunities tied to what the book calls 'culture-driven growth'.

Building on three years of observations, interviews and research the authors argue that a 'strategy-as-practice' perspective can reveal how strategy making is enabled or constrained by organizational and social practices. The authors reveal how the 'sweet-spot' of city regeneration occurs where urban and cultural planning are aligned. They then evaluate the practice of 'co-creation' within organizing bodies and investigate the extent to which its success depends on a fusion of top-down rules and bottom-up action.

Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth will appeal to international scholars and students in organization studies, geography, city governance and planning, urban design, and urban and regional development. Policymakers and planners will also find it to be a valuable resource.