Author Archives: bcolgan4

by | 09/12/2011 · 14:56

Utrecht Update | Final Programme Now Online

Dear Colleagues,

We are happy to announce that the finalized programme is now online for the International Place Branding Conference «Roots – Politics – Methods» to be held in Utrecht, Netherlands, between 20th and 21st January 2012.

Please visit the official conference website (http://de.amiando.com/FNFBVAT.html?page=594081) and click on the “programme tab”. Also, please note that papers written by multiple authors will be presented by the author with a “*” appearing next to their name.

If you have any questions about the programme, do not hesitate to contact Verena Röber at (conference@inprojectis.com)

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by | 07/12/2011 · 18:04

Creative Cities International — The Vitality Index (VI)

by Brendan Colgan

Last summer Creative Cities International (CCI) launched a new cultural impact study in the U.S.  entitled the Vitality Index (VI) [click here for the report]. The study aims to model the “human experience of the city at its heart.” In practice, it is a ranking and assessment which applies the same level of rigor to qualitative factors as it does quantitative ones. It brings to life a city’s human strengths as it respects its complexities: a vibrant downtown, an engaged populace, educational opportunity, economic sustainability, good transport, diversity of population and opportunity, and a citizenry that embraces its history and culture. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Linda Lees, director of CCI, about their recent study: Continue reading →

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by | 28/11/2011 · 13:33

Are You a Kiez Killer?

As a sort of a follow up to Ares Kalandides’ article “The Killer Argument: “You’re a bloody Gentrifier!” posted last Friday, I would like you to consider the following scenario:

1) You are wearing a woolen hat (even though it is summer and nobody knows why).

2) You are listening to mainstream electro music through your ‘over-the-top’ headphones.

3) You are wearing large, anti-glare sunglasses.

4) You are carrying a shoulder bag made out of old tarps. And its most important content is your Macbook.

5) You brought your iPhone (so you can Tweet every 10 minutes).

6) You are drinking a Chai Latte to go (with soy milk).

7) You are walking around in cool sneakers (that are made only in the U.S.A.).

If one or all of these things apply to you, you may in fact be a Kiez Killer or a “killer of the neighborhood”. At least this is what one local artist in the Berlin neighborhood of Neukölln thinks.  Continue reading →

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by | 23/11/2011 · 14:53

Smartphones and the City

by Brendan Colgan

I am sure you are all aware of the smartphone revolution. Smartphones have increasing impact on our day to day lives. Meaningful human communication and interaction depends primarily on language, both spoken and written. Any phone (more or less) can do this. Yet with “Apps” smartphones go further and have become a means by which we negotiate and manage our everyday lives.  They affect how we navigate, discover,  eat, communicate, relate, interact. They have become an intermediary between consumers and producer, locals and tourists. It is perhaps no surprise then that so many cities are embracing such a technology. Continue reading →

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by | 18/11/2011 · 15:31

Davis California | Progressive, Corky, and Unique

by Brendan Colgan

Davis, California is located 18 km (11 mi) west of Sacramento, and 113 km (72 mi) northeast of San Francisco. I must admit prior to traveling there, I didn’t know much about it beyond the fact that it is particularly well-known for its liberal political agenda and it is home to the University of California, Davis (UCD) campus-which has one of the best agriculture, veterinary/animal husbandry, and biology departments in the world (if you want to become a California vintner, study at UCD). Having been invited to come visit for quite some time, I finally decided last year to take a trip out there to visit a good friend of mine and to help out at his family’s water purification business H2O to Go – (Davis tap water is very hard and metallic-tasting. The only treatment administered by the city is the addition of sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) and it is not optimally fluoridated). Though I was only there for 5 days, I was able to experience some of the things that make Davis a unique, peculiar, and progressive place. Here are just a few:

Continue reading →

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by | 14/11/2011 · 14:26

Music, Sounds, and their Associations with Place

by Brendan Colgan

As a both a life-long fan and a musician, I have always admired how music allows us to seemingly transcend physical boundaries (no drugs required, I promise). I’ve gone Walking in Memphis, danced with Mrs. Hippo in Paris, and Left My Heart in San Francisco all in the impulses of one evening. You can internalize the music, the lyrics, and in a way, they become your own – even though they are written by others. Music triggers emotional associations- even with a place. Continue reading →

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by | 07/11/2011 · 11:50

UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network |Part 2| Glasgow City of Music

Last week we introduced this first article in a new series of articles about UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network to appear here on the Place Management and Branding blog. We began with the first part of Kenneth Wardrop’s two part article in which he explored Edingburgh as Scotland’s City of Literature. We continue this week with part two of Kenneth Wardrop’s article about Scotland in which he explores Glasgow as a Creative City of Music. Continue reading →

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by | 04/11/2011 · 13:00

“Greening” America’s Ports | The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

by Brendan Colgan

A competitive global economy forces ports to compete with one another for trade and fosters a cut-throat mentality: ‘expand or be forgotten’, ‘cut costs otherwise your competitor will’. As a result, green initiatives are often put on the back-burner because they are viewed as adding costs to a system that inherently seeks to cut costs. And so the capitalist love story goes. However, in recent years more and more ports are adopting cleaner, “greener” practices in the advent of innovative technologies and tighter regulations. In the US, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are leading the way in terms of green port initiatives. In this article, we will explore how and why ports should embrace “green”. Continue reading →

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by | 02/11/2011 · 15:12

Tokyo | The ‘Creative’ Capital of ‘Cool Japan’

by Brendan Colgan

A new city brand campaign, dubbed the ‘Creative Tokyo’ project,  was unveiled by the Japanese government earlier last month in the nation’s capital. The campaign targets Tokyo’s creative industries and consists of numerous art, fashion, music, food, and other cultural events  planned into the New Year. Continue reading →

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by | 31/10/2011 · 12:00

UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network |Part 1| Edinburgh City of Literature

Edinburgh City of Literature (designated in 2004)

We would like to introduce this first article in a new series of articles about UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network to appear here on the Place Management and Branding blog. The Network aims at developing international cooperation among cities and encouraging them to drive joint development partnerships in line with UNESCO’s global priorities of “culture and development” and “sustainable development”.  This first-of-two articles written by Kenneth Wardrop discusses the origin and goals of the UNESCO initiative and examines Scotland’s Edinburgh as a City of Literature: Continue reading →

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