Making Things Happen: Reflections on the User Generated Cities Forum

As part of the 2011 Format Festival, Renew Adelaide called together a collection of thinkers and do-ers from around the country to explore the role of people in cities. Working with the broad brief of ‘user generated cities’, Renew hoped to hear a conversation covering planning, innovation, design, creativity, action and change. In essence, we were trying to explore the roles cities play in provoking new ideas and bringing together communities, as well as the influences that can prevent those things from happening.

Speakers included Renew Australia’s Marcus Westbury, cultural policy commentator Ben Eltham, Tuxedo Cat manager Cassandra Tombs, policy reformer John Wardle, arts and technology guru Fee Plumley, Adelaide’s Thinker in Residence John McTernan and Adelaide Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood.

Renew Adelaide used the forum as an opportunity to celebrate its just-over-one year anniversary with the city of Adelaide. Since Renew Adelaide was established, it has grown from a small, entirely volunteer run collective that aimed to inject life into vacant buildings in the city to a larger, partially funded incorporated organisation which is still trying to do the same thing: activate vacant buildings and provide opportunities to people with good ideas. However, a year of meetings, discussions and projects has demonstrated that while there is a great sense creative and community momentum in Adelaide at the moment, there are also barriers to innovation which are not going to remove themselves.

Held over February 19 and 20 at AC Arts and Tuxedo Cat, the User Generated Cities forum generated lots of discussion (both from the panelists and the folk who gave up their weekend to come along) and assisted Renew Adelaide to determine its way forward in 2011.

So Renew’s ‘to-do list’ at age 1 includes improving Adelaide’s status as an innovative cultural hub, engaging communities, supporting urban renewal and enhancing the creative industries and knowledge economy. Of course, this does include opening more spaces…

Day One

The first day of the forum consisted of two panel discussions. We set the tone for the panels by asking Cassandra Tombs and Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood to share their perspectives on the complexities of opening new venues in Adelaide. Cass detailed some of the current barriers facing small-scale venues and explained that the interpretation of regulatory systems can be as complex as the systems themselves.

Lord Mayor of Adelaide Stephen Yarwood followed on from Cassandra, outlining his ideas about the importance of cultural change within large organisations like the Adelaide City Council, whilst prioritising the idea that a city is driven primarily by those who populate it.

After hearing from Cass and Stephen, forum facilitator Kristin Alford led us straight into the first panel. Kristin introduced Gavin Artz, Ben Eltham, Jennifer Greer-Holmes and Fee Plumley to grapple with the topic Good ideas and globalisation: social innovators, creative industries and everyone else trying to figure out what’s going to happen over the next twenty years.

With some support from the Integrated Design Commission, we were able to film the forum. Our very patient videographer Brad has put together these great clips, summarising the conversation and ideas that emerged from the panel sessions. Highlights from the first panel can be found here:

After a break to re-fuel and talk through the ideas raised in the first session, Kristin introduced the theme for the second panel: Cities as the Source of Good Ideas: Why It Happens, How It Happens and What Stops It Happening. The speakers for this panel were Teresa Crea, Tim Horton, John McTernan, John Wardle and Marcus Westbury.

Once again, here are the highlights:

Day Two

The second day of the forum featured more in depth, workshop style discussions between panelists and attendees. Day two took place at Tuxedo Cat, giving participants a preview of the venue that went on to win the 2011 Fringe Award for Best Venue.

Over the course of the day we toured the Tuxedo Cat building (from its partially flooded cellar to the performances spaces which now feature on each floor); discussed the previous day’s forums; explored ways that locals can assist Renew Adelaide and the creative/innovation sectors in general and had the chance to pick the brains of panelists Marcus Westbury and John Wardle.

Reflections

Reflecting on and processing the mass of ideas that emerged from the forum has taken us a little while. We’d really like to thank everyone who took part- panellists and audience members alike.

Speaking broadly, three key themes stood out amongst the many ideas which the forum dealt with.

1.     The Papierkrieg: there was a great deal of discussion related to the impact of administrative systems and the capacity for regulatory frameworks to stifle community engagement, innovation and cultural activity under the guise of ‘risk aversion’. Those systems, it was noted, impact particularly heavily on those with limited capital. As Marcus Westbury noted, many cities around Australia have ‘scaled out’ their users.

2.     User focused design: Tim Horton and John McTernan led a common theme regarding both the need and complexity of placing people at the heart of design, whether it is the design of cities or the design of development application forms. That approach is essential to building productive links between those who use the city and the governance systems that play out upon them.

3.     Engaged communities: Kristin Alford rounded out the day by asking people what they personally intend to do, highlighting the way communities are made of real people, and those people have the agency to advocate for the kind of city they want to live in. Without simplifying the negative impact of poor governance and regulatory issues, there was a strong sense on both days of the forum that change comes from the ground up, and systems of governance work best when actively shaped by those they govern.

The User Generated Cities forum received support from Thinkers in Residence, Arts SA, Format Festival, Integrated Design Commission, Bridge 8, Tuxedo Cat and Fox Creek. Thanks to all of them for getting board!

As mentioned previously, our forum facilitator Kristin Alford concluded the forum by asking audience members to consider what they would take away from the forum and how they could personally contribute to or change the city. We know many of you have been thinking about this and we’re really keen to hear your ideas. Please go ahead and use the comments function underneath this post to share your thoughts on the forum.