Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey

European cities still dominate the top ten ranking for quality of living with Canada, Australia and New Zealand also featuring.
Vienna scores highest for overall quality of living, while Calgary the Eco-city league's top dog.
Watch the short video discussing the criteria for city ranking.
Ranking tables and descriptions are to be found here.

The Other Side Of Branding

For all those cities that are battling for pole position in the urban league... David Brier says...

Get Real with the Creative City

Firm Intentions: Cities, Private Sector Jobs & The Coalition is the title of a new report by The Centre for Cities calling for more realism from the Coalition and cities across England pursuing sectors such as green industries or creative clusters. The document focuses on evidence that only a small number of cities will be able to develop specialist clusters in sectors identified as “growth” industries.  These are more likely to emerge as a result of a natural or historic advantage – such as life sciences in Cambridge, with its highly qualified workforce and its University – than government intervention which has been found to be limited.
 The report also identifies a “reality gap” at a time of shrinking public expenditure. 70% of cities in England believe they have a creative industries sector worth investing in, 46% of cities, a green or low carbon sector and 59% of cities, an advanced manufacturing cluster.  More than one in four of England’s cities plan to support the emergence of all three, despite funding constraints.
Download the report here: http://www.centreforcities.org/firmintentions

Cultural Planning in Canada

The internationally renown cultural planner Greg Baeker has just launched an edited publication called: Rediscovering the Wealth of Places (published in Canada by Municipal World). The book focuses on methods and case studies for the effective integration of culture in planning across municipal departments of Canadian cities. It is a practical and intelligently written ‘how to’ guide providing conclusive proof that municipal cultural mapping processes are often the key to effective policies for building creative advantage. By the way, just in case you were wondering, this applies to cities large and small both in Canada and outside! Well worth getting hold of it!

Gentrification and Its Discontents - Magazine - The Atlantic

Gentrification and Its Discontents - Magazine - The Atlantic

The International Architecture Showcase - Mimetic City

Between 19 June and 4 July the British Council, in partnership with the Architecture Foundation and more than 34 London-based embassies, presented a programme of exciting new work by practices from different countries on the theme of 'The Welcoming City'. The International Architecture Showcase featured exhibitions, installations, film screenings, debates and lectures hosted by diverse institutions across London, with the aim of challenging perceptions and opening minds to new possibilities in urban living. Check out the Mimetic City Istanbul event, a collaboration between Kerem Turker of Rada Design and Noema Research and Planning.
http://www.lfa2010.org/event.php?id=352&name=turkey_mimetic_city

Ostrava 2015

The Czech city of Ostrava is currently preparing a bid for EUCOC 2015. On May 13 and 14, Lia Ghilardi and Colin Mercer visited the city and lead a series of talks and workshops on Cultural Planning and Mapping designed to help the city to focus on its cultural and creative economy priorities and aims.
In addition to that, on June 24-25 Ostrava will host a major conference on the soft factors influencing regional development. Check it out!