A city that makes space for the arts, culture, and creativity through its public spaces and buildings is a city where quality of life improves and which becomes attractive to business and multi-nationals.
This is the view of architect Aoife Considine, the author of a report entitled Towards A Creative City, in which she argues that Galway must be forward thinking in its approach to planning and future development if it is to live up to its claim as a city of culture, a regional capital, and a place attractive to business.
While studying architecture at university in Glasgow, Ms Considine began to think about the overall approach to planning, development, and the use and provision for public space, buildings, and facilities in her native Galway.
It led her to write Towards A Creative City, in which she outlines a vision for Galway and how its future development. The idea of the ‘Creative City’ is one where the arts, culture, and quality of life are used to make the city attractive to live in, work, invest, and establish industry.
Ms Considine’s paper concentrated mainly on the Ceannt Station and docklands area, but is concerned with the city centre overall. She proposed that any future development of Ceannt Station and the docklands be fully integrated into the city and not be seen as projects separate from each other or from the wider city centre area.
“Joined up thinking is crucial,” she says, “otherwise the areas could become almost ghettos.”
Ms Considine’s calls are being supported by Maíread Ní Chroínín, the Green candidate for Galway City Central.
“The city centre is getting emptier and emptier,” says Ms Ní Chroínín, “but Ceannt Station and the old docks together are the size of the city centre so in a sense this is a doubling of the city centre. There are incredible opportunities for quality of life and for new ideas of what it means to live in the city centre.”
Ms Considine also proposes new public buildings, public spaces, facilities, and architecture to be looked at before private enterprise interests so that public facilities, the arts, and culture are catered for and encouraged.
Some will argue that this latter approach is an indulgence and a misdirection of energy in a time of economic downturn. However Ms Considine says the experience of other cities shows that economic benefits flow from adopting the Creative City approach.
“Barcelona in the 1970s adopted this approach as did Glasgow in the 1980s,” she says, “and both of these cities reinvented themselves and you can see in Glasgow, which had a lot of problems with sectarianism, how it has improved for the better.”
Ms Ní Chroínín says adopting the Creative City idea is vital to attracting business interest in Galway and agrees that Glasgow is a good example.
“I also studied in Glasgow and have seen the potential for a city that can turn itself around,” she says. “Glasgow took a leap forward to become the European City of Culture in 1990. They invested in planning for the whole city and created cultural spaces that were outside the economic sphere but yet that drew people into the city and Glasgow could capitalise on that for it’s future development.”
In Towards A Creative City, Ms Considine recommended new strategic policies be adopted by local government such as the drafting of a master plan - different and more specific than the Galway City Development Plan - for the city which would be based on a specific plan and vision for its future development
She also called for an audit on issues like transport in the city, roads, access into and out of Galway, and the lack of public facilities and spaces. She also called for the public and public groups to be allowed participation in the process.
She says transport is crucial and that if ease of access into, out of, and within the city could be solved, many benefits would flow from this.
Ms Considine, along with the Arts Alliance Galway, presented the paper to the Galway City Council last year but felt the idea was not taken seriously enough.
As a result, Ms Considine and the Galway based artist Aideen Barry have set up the website - www.2020visionforgalway.com - in which the public and interested parties will be able to contribute and develop ideas for the city’s future development.
Both women hope the website, which will be launched next week, will build a grassroots momentum that will encourage planners and politicians to adopt the ideas she and others will be proposing.
“It is, we feel, the first step in enabling people to put together ideas for the city and how a joining up of ideas could foster a ground up attitude to influence a changing city framework,” says Ms Considine.
“This will be an independent sharing site. I’d like people of any age, but particularly the under 30s, to contribute ideas, images, and what they think about the city to the website,” says Ms Considine. “I’m hoping the site will get people thinking about the city, its architecture, and how they want and need the city to develop into in the future.
“Until we get momentum within the cultural and public groups there will be no movement. Once there is a momentum, there then needs to be a visionary leader, be it a city manager, a mayor, a city planner, a city architect, or someone that would push this sort of idea.”
Ms Ní Chroínín agrees that the public are important in changing the way Galway develops into the future.
“The Obama campaign shows what grassroots activity can achieve,” she says. “Galway is the main city on the western seaboard and it has a cultural background. We have to be ambitious. Having a city that is culturally and creatively vibrant is something that can be capitalised on.
“If foreign multi-nationals see that Galway is a good place to live, that it attracts creative people, is vibrant with culture and ideas, has a good quality of life, and good transport infrastructure,
