Creating Cities

by Marcus Westbury

In 2008, Marcus Westbury returned to his hometown of Newcastle, Australia and found more than 150 empty buildings lining its two main streets. Three years later the world’s largest travel publisher, Lonely Planet, named it one of the Top Ten cities to visit in the world.

Creating Cities is about the unlikely events in between. How a failed idea to start a bar morphed into a scheme that has helped transform Newcastle, launched more than two hundred creative and community projects across Australia and is fast becoming a model for cities and towns around the world.

In an engaging, thoughtful and observational style, Marcus Westbury argues that most towns and cities are wasting their most obvious opportunities: the talent, imagination, and passion of the people that live there. In a globalised age, local creativity has access to new possibilities that most places have barely begun to grasp.

Marcus weaves a local story of how identifying and fixing small scale failures in Newcastle into a larger set of ideas and “why-to” strategy with potential applications in cities and towns around the world. Creating Cities is an inspiring must read for creative people, civic and business leaders, town planners, citizens and anyone who cares about the communities that they live in.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Urban, Urbanism

194 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Marcus Westbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book i've ever written. Presumedly this will be deleted if I can get the author function to start working!

[Brendan Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done. A manifesto of how the many small collaborative creatives can combine to play the part expected of the hoped-for big single change to revitalise a city. It is also a record of the hard work, determination, and drive of Marcus Westbury and a celebration of what he and his conspirators have done for Newcastle. This should be on the bookshelves of every decision maker and planner in every Government level. And I insist that they read it.

[Kristin Alford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creating Cities is a call for action. As Marcus says:
"We knew only that we needed to try things because the city of the future was unknown. We could only discover it by creating it."

And creating it is necessary when so many other plans result in what he explains as a "deferral of the future" - ideas that shelve expectations and action for a time that's yet to come. When in fact, as futurist Ivana Milojevic says, "the future is an active space of the present... thinking about the future is in fact to change today"

Surrounding himself with diverse people, expertise and experiences, Marcus makes the time for urban renewal now, driven by an obsession more than mere passion. This book is hopeful and optimistic, and a perfect case study of how systemic and emergent thinking (that is foresight), can create shifts beyond what seems possible.

[Joh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Westbury tells his story well. He openly shares his discoveries and journey into making a difference in a place. I enjoyed the reflections and inspirations he drew from the past and previous generations. This is a grassroots story/guide to how community development works in real life, rather than an academic or theoretic version and that is it's real strength. Easy to read and relate to and totally inspiring and enjoyable. My kindle is littered with highlights and notes!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of those books that tempts me to consider alternative approaches to my life. Every page a reminder of the process I deal with daily and ideas of how to approach and manage them differently. Do not come here looking for solutions to your own problems, but rather possible ways to break them down and find your own solutions.

[Joshua Donellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for anyone who works in the arts, urban planning or just has an interesting in adding to and influencing a city's culture.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. Gave me some ideas on how to improve my city.

[Emily Craven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a brilliant look into how you can reinvigorate dying cities and public spaces. How Marcus uses community and local creatives is nothing short of brilliant, because who else knows their cities best? Who else is more invested in bringing their city back from the brink than those who live there? Marcus looks not only at the realities and legalities of why spaces in cities remain empty, but he also pulls no punches in the sheer volume of work and will needed to start forging projects like this. What he has created is simplistic and powerful. This book really speaks to the power of those little local businesses, and draws attention to the simple truth that local business and products and creativity are just as worth while of our attention and time as big multinational corporations, sometimes even more so. The locals are what make a city unique and draw people, not the sameness of big chains and imported Chinese products. A brilliant book for creatives who want to make things happen and make a change, a shift in their community.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read - a nice example of what happens when you have an idea and actually follow through with it. The book is essentially Marcus Westbury's reflections on what he learned from his experience of setting up Renew Newcastle. At times I got a bit bored of hearing his voice all the time, and a tone of arrogance shone through every so often. But then what he's done is pretty impressive. The great success though is still the piece that motivated this book "Fluid Cities Create." Originally published in Griffith Review, and included as an appendix in this book, the piece is quite a powerful essay on the need to look inwards when it comes to creating a culture, rather than always seeing it as coming from somewhere 'better' and elsewhere.

[Sian Mabbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into alternative methods that can support creativity, foster people's talent and boost small business in cities. As some of my friends are from Newcastle it was nice to read about the history of the coal town and how it's changed over the years to manage the disruption! Well done for enduring with an innovative solution :)

[Kate Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, fairly quick read about how Marcus Westbury managed to start a creative revolution in Newcastle in a bid to revive the city. I particularly liked how he doesn't hide his failures or disappointments.