state of the world's cities 2012/2013 - United Nations Sustainable ...

State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013Box 3.2.1Measuring Innovation and CreativityIn 2000 a “Creative City Index” was developed to measure‘the imaginative pulse of cities’, combining a variety ofindicators ranging from political and public frameworks,diversity, vitality and expression, openness and tolerance,entrepreneurship, vision, liveability, learning andprofessionalism, among 10 specific dimensions. In 2007,Melbourne-based “2thinkNow” developed an “InnovationCities Program” along with an “Innovation Cities Index” in abid to enhance understanding of the links between innovationand the way cities operate. The measure also uses a largevariety of indicators, involving cultural assets, infrastructureand networked markets in areas such as commerce, finance,food, the arts, health, technology, religion, the media, etc.On this basis, cities are classified in five categories: ‘nexus’(cities featuring critical innovations),’hub’ (cities that areinfluential in key areas), ‘node’ (cities combining broadrangingperformance and imbalances), ‘influencer’ (cities thatare competitive but unbalanced on the whole), and ‘upstart’(cities with potential for future performance).Source: UN-Habitat (2012) Decentralization in Iraq: Challenges andSolutions for Federal and Local Governments, Nairobi: UN-HabitatpolicyA creative city must establish a balance between‘hardware’ factors – infrastructure and technology –and ‘software’ factors (including mind-set, dynamics of place, theconnection between thinkers and doers, and a change-friendlyenvironment). 7The Factors behind Urban InnovativenessInnovation can emanate from a creative worker, acommunity leader, a business person, an artist, a publicservant or a scientist, etc. Innovation can respond to aspecific problem, reduce risks, anticipate challenges, resultin new products or process, or harness existing or emergingopportunities. For the purposes of urban prosperity,innovation has a clear role in improved conditions forpopulations and the way they live, work, move, relax andmore generally make the most of the urban advantage.If its existingcreative capital is to beenhanced, or activatedThe culture ofpolicy creativity must where dormant, a citybe embedded in the way should become a locuscities operate. 8where socioculturaldiversity can be staged,and where links can flourish among both individuals andinstitutions. In practice, all of this requires well-adaptedphysical environments, which in turn have to do withurbanization economies 9 and better urban planning. Froma more institutional point of view, support to knowledgeexchange and networking is another way of stimulatingcreative capital, along with favourable conditions forresearch and development. As for the productive sector,creative stimulation can also derive from economies ofagglomeration and an entrepreneur-friendly environment.It may come as no surprise that in Asia, mostlocal experts saw a strong link between research anddevelopment (R&D), on the one hand, and enhancedprosperity on the other, with public authorities and otherstakeholders playing significant roles in the areas ofbusiness, industry and technology.This was the case in Singapore, Hyderabad andBangalore (India), Shenzhen and Chongqing (China),Gaziantep (Turkey) and Cebu (the Philippines). InSingapore, gross expenditure on R&D increased from1.9 per cent in 1990 to 2.8 per cent 2008 and threeper cent in 2010 10 , with the focus on applied research,technology, sustainable urban living and ‘clean’ energy. 11In Bangalore, the emergence of the city as a knowledgehub is a visible impact of policy, entrepreneurship andinnovation. With more than 66 engineering colleges and55 polytechnics, the city has developed as a centre forscientific innovation, research in aeronautics and electronicswith strong public research facilities. 12 Biotechnologiesand computer/communications also feature highly inHyderabad, India’s pharmaceutical capital, with supportfrom central government and more than 40 researchand educational institutions. 13 Shenzhen has developedan endogenous innovation strategy led by the state withinvestments from government agencies, industries anduniversities. In few years,the city has developed ahigh-tech, modern serviceindustry, actively promotingfact UN-Habitatsurvey showsindustrial transformation that five main factorsand upgrade, focusingare at play when citieson electronics, biological innovate: innovativeengineering and newurban management,material technology.entrepreneurial capacity,the promotion ofThe city has also madearts and culture, theimportant innovationsemergence of industrialin the service industryclusters, and research(finance, logistics andand development (R&D).104