Creative Cities and Economic Development (ECDV1-CE)

For the first time in human history, the basic logic of the economy dictates that further economic development requires the additional expansion and utilization of human creative capabilities. The principles of economic development—technology, talent, tolerance, and territory assets—offer a strategy for competitiveness in the creative age. Communities must create ecosystems that develop new ideas and that foster cultural, entrepreneurial, civic, scientific, and artistic creativity. This course, which serves as the entry point for the Certificate in Creative Cities and Economic Development, provides practical examples, case studies, and best practices for building creative, inclusive communities.

Cities are faced with potentially profound changes in the way we work, live, and learn once we emerge from the deepest economic shock of our lifetimes. How can the world’s great financial, technology, entertainment, and political capitals—New York City, Shanghai, London, and others—manage new demands on infrastructure and resources while reinventing themselves for this radically altered world? This course will provide insight into how global cities will recover and thrive in a post-pandemic world.

Location is the key economic organizing unit of our time. For businesses, the right location can provide them with access to key customers and clients, talent pools, R&D assets, and clusters of related firms. For economic developers, it is crucial to understand how to effectively measure a community’s competitive assets, including growth industries, talent specializations, and demographics, as well as how to promote and market those strengths to businesses. This key methods course for the Certificate in Creative Cities and Economic Development offers important insights into effective economic development research methods and associated strategies.

Cities are the most important engines and organizing units of the global economy. They are more than just the sum of their built infrastructure—their political, social, cultural, and intellectual fabric is complex. While urbanization is a powerful force for growth and innovation, it is not self-regulating; global cities need a generation of leaders who understand the challenges of both developed and developing cities, as well as the best practices that drive economic growth and prosperity. This course offers key insights into the challenges and the trends that are having an impact on the world’s cities, including increased urbanization, social and equity divides, infrastructure development, and human skill development.

More than ever before, economic development is about building creative, authentic communities that attract, retain, and foster talent. A recent Gallup poll of more than 40,000 people found that three main qualities attach individuals to place: social offerings, openness, and aesthetics. Effective, creative “placemaking,” from physical development and space use to on-the-street programming, takes each of these factors into account. Placemaking today is not just about raising a single development or building but also involves creating large-scale physical and cultural improvements across entire neighborhoods and communities. This course provides an overview of the latest best practices and approaches for creative placemaking, including neighborhood revitalization, public and green space use, and street-level programming.

Economic development should not be solely government driven. Governments alone do not have the tools, the capital, or the networks to build prosperous, creative communities. Successful economic development requires the partnership of all sectors—public, private, and nonprofit. Today, communities are using new partnership models to revitalize distressed communities, to tackle regional challenges, and to market themselves to the world as places open to business. In parallel, many of these communities are utilizing innovative, place-based incentives and grants to incubate ideas, new policies, and start-ups. This course helps you to uncover the most effective models and best practices of economic development partnerships, and it outlines the tools used in modern-day economic development, including place-based incentives, grants, and financing models.

Thanks to cities’ creative-class appeal, amenities, and walkability, start-up activity in the U.S. increasingly is shifting from suburban “nerdistans” to the urban environment. Recent research suggests that communities with supportive, entrepreneurial ecosystems—available talent, business support, capital, and inclusive environments—are more likely to attract, grow, and retain entrepreneurs and start-up organizations. Around the world, cities big and small are utilizing innovative support programs, university partnerships and technology transfer programs, incubators and accelerators, and funding mechanisms to help fuel the growth of their start-up communities. This course demonstrates the importance of an ecosystem to start-up businesses, and it showcases various models and approaches for supporting innovation and start-ups in urban environments, including incubator and accelerator best practices.

In the next 50 years, three out of every five people will live in an urban area. This will strain the ability of urban infrastructures to supply their populations with food, water, and energy. At the same time, the destructive storms and rising tides that are a consequence of global warming, as well as other natural and man-made disasters, will inevitably take a steep toll. In this course, study new approaches to building resilient cities that incorporate climate and sustainability policies, physical development, and environment protection.

Cities are perhaps the greatest expression of human civilization. We come together in cities, to live and to work, to play and to create. The principles of economic development—technology, talent, tolerance, and territory assets—offer a strategy for building communities in the creative age. Cities must create ecosystems that develop new ideas and that foster cultural, entrepreneurial, civic, scientific, and artistic creativity. As a foundational course in economic development, this six-week hybrid online course will detail the principles of creative community building and will provide practical examples, case studies, and best practices for building more creative, inclusive communities.

More than ever before, successful economic development and talent attraction and retention are tied to quality of place. Simply put, communities must be creative and authentic. A recent Gallup poll of more than 40,000 US residents found that three main qualities attach individuals to place: social offerings, openness, and aesthetics. Effective, creative placemaking and urban design—from physical development and space use to on-the-street programming—take each of these factors into account. This four-week hybrid online course will provide an overview of the latest best practices and approaches for creative placemaking, including neighborhood revitalization, public and green space use, and street-level programming.

Start-up activity increasingly is shifting from suburban “nerdistans” to the urban environment. Recent research suggests that communities with supportive, entrepreneurial ecosystems—available talent, business support, capital, and inclusive environments—are more likely to attract, grow, and retain entrepreneurs and start-up organizations. Around the world, cities big and small are utilizing innovative support programs, university partnerships and technology transfer programs, incubators and accelerators, and funding mechanisms to help fuel the growth of their start-up communities. This four-week hybrid online course will demonstrate the importance of an ecosystem to start-up businesses and will showcase various models and approaches for supporting innovation and start-ups in urban environments.

By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, straining natural resources and the ability of urban infrastructures to supply their populations with food, water, and energy. At the same time, cities are experiencing the consequences of global warming and other natural and man-made disasters, and these effects will inevitably take a steep toll. This four-week hybrid online course will offer new approaches to building resilient cities that incorporate climate and sustainability policies, physical development, and environment protection.

The basic logic of our economy dictates that further economic development requires the cultivation and utilization of human creative capabilities. The principles of economic development—technology, talent, tolerance, and territory assets—offer a strategy for competitiveness in the creative age. Communities must establish ecosystems that develop new ideas and foster cultural, entrepreneurial, civic, scientific, and artistic creativity. This course, which serves as the entry point for the Certificate in Cities and Urban Development, will offer practical examples, case studies, and best practices for building creative, inclusive communities.

Location is the key economic organizing unit of our time. For businesses, the right location can provide them with access to key customers and clients, talent pools, R&D assets, and clusters of related firms. For economic developers, an understanding of how effectively to measure a community’s competitive assets, including growth industries, talent specializations, and demographics, as well as how to promote and market those strengths to businesses, is crucial. This course, which serves as the key methods course for the Certificate in Cities and Urban Development, offers key insights into effective economic development research methods and associated strategies.

Startup activity in the US is increasingly moving from suburban “nerdistans” back to cities, thanks to cities’ creative class appeal, amenities, and walkability. Recent research suggests that communities with supportive, entrepreneurial ecosystems—available talent, business support, capital, and inclusive environments—are more likely to attract, grow, and retain entrepreneurs and startup organizations. Around the world, cities big and small are utilizing innovative support programs, university partnerships and technology transfer programs, incubators and accelerators, and funding mechanisms to help fuel the growth of their startup communities. This course will demonstrate the importance of an ecosystem to startup businesses and will showcase various models and approaches for supporting innovation and startups in urban environments, including incubator and accelerator best practices.

Creative placemaking—a term and field of practice promoted by the National Endowment for the Arts and ArtPlace, among others—has, in the last decade, become the go-to approach to the regeneration of neighborhoods in cities large and small. Popular forms of placemaking include cultural events and programming, pop-up and pilot interventions, asset mapping, cultural planning, and citywide tool kits, as well as new public spaces, buildings, and developments. When executed well—with and for communities—these initiatives have a catalytic impact on the health, environment, and local economic development of neighborhoods and cities. When conceived and implemented poorly, placemaking efforts exacerbate social and economic inequalities, contributing to displacement and other negative impacts.

Cities are the most important engines and organizing units of the global economy. They are more than just the sum of their built infrastructure—their political, social, cultural, and intellectual fabric is complex. While urbanization is a powerful force for growth and innovation, it is not self-regulating; our global cities need a generation of leaders that understands the challenges of both developed and developing cities, as well as the best practices that drive economic growth and prosperity. This course offers key insights into the challenges and trends impacting the world’s cities, including increased urbanization, social and equity divides, infrastructure development, and human skill development.

In the next 50 years, three out of every five people will live in an urban area. This will strain the capacities of the world’s natural resources and of urban infrastructures to supply food, water, and energy. At the same time, the destructive storms and rising tides that are consequences of global warming, as well as other natural and manmade disasters, will inevitably take a steep toll on cities. This course demonstrates how city builders must utilize new approaches to building resilient cities that incorporate climate and sustainability policies, physical development, and environment protection.