Creative Industries in Finland

Creative Clusters in the Life of Culture and the Life of the City

St Petersburg 19.3.2005

Timo CantellSibelius Academy

timo.cantell@siba.fi

Creative City

• Åke E. Andersson suggests four important ”Ks” that will characterise cities in the future: - Kultur- Kreativitet - Kommunikation- Kunskap (knowledge)

Anderson, Åke E. 1985. Kreativitet - StorStadens Framtid. Värnamo: Prisma.

Boom of reports and strategies in Finland

• National level– Ministry of Trade– Ministry of Culture

• Regional level– 5 regional bodies– 15 sub-regional authorites

• Municipal level– All major cities and urban areas

Boom of reports and strategies in Finland

• Ahokas, Anne (2003). Pohjois-Savon kulttuuriklusteri. Kulttuuriklusterin nykytilaselvitys. Kuopio: Pohjois-Savon liitto. http://pohjois-savo.ip-finland.com/assets/pdf/Kulttuuri.pdf

• Alueiden vahvuudeksi (2003). Kulttuuri-, liikunta- ja nuorisopolitiikan aluekehittämisen toimenpideohjelma – linjauksia ja painopisteitä vuosille 2003-2013. Helsinki: Opetusministeriön julkaisuja 2003:22. http://www.minedu.fi/julkaisut/kulttuuri/2003/opm22/aluestrategia.pdf

• Askelmerkit tulevaisuuteen (2003). Suomi 2015 –ohjelman loppuraportti. Helsinki: Sitran raportteja 34.

• Kulttuurin aika (2003). Kulttuurin ja kulttuuripolitiikan merkityksestä yhteiskunnassa. Helsinki: Opetusministeriön julkaisuja 2003:13. http://www.minedu.fi/julkaisut/kulttuuri/2003/opm13/opm13.pdf

Boom of reports and strategies in Finland

• Haajanen, Marko & Sokka, Sakarias 2002. Kulttuuri maakuntien vahvuutena. Selvitys maakuntien liitoista alueellisten kulttuurilinjausten määrittäjänä. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö, Kulttuuri-, liikunta- ja nuorisopolitiikan osaston julkaisusarja, 7/2002.

• Himanen, Pekka 2004. Välittävä, kannustava ja luova Suomi. Katsaus tietoyhteiskuntamme syviin haasteisiin. Helsinki: Eduskunta, tulevaisuusvaliokunta, teknologian arviointeja 18.http://www.eduskunta.fi/fakta/julkaisut/ekj4_2004.pdf

• Koivunen, Hannele 2004. Onko kulttuurilla vientiä? Opetusministeriön, ulkoasiainministeriön ja kauppa- ja teollisuusministeriön Kulttuurivienti –hanke. Selvitysmiehen raportti. Opetusministeriön julkaisuja 2004:22.http://www.minedu.fi/julkaisut/kulttuuri/2004/opm22/opm22.pdf

Strategies have lead into…

• Increased understanding of the importance of the creative economy in the public and private sector

• Co-operation between the public and the private sector

• Increased private sector initiatives and funding• Urban policies where the creative economy is taken

seriously• MUSEX Finland: Music export organisation

supporting Finnish music business

Greater Helsinki Region within the context of the Baltic Sea Region

K ilom e ters

0 1 0 0 2 5 0 5 0 0

G rea ter H elsinki Reg io n

O ver m illio n inha bitan ts2 50 00 0 - 1 0 0 0 0 00 in h.< 2 50 00 0 inh .

City

Sta te bo rder

Ra ilw a ySea ro uteSea ro ute (sum m e r)

Ro ad

M a jo r d irectio n o fco n nectio ns

Greater Helsinki Region and the functional urban regions of over 150 000

inhabitants in Finland

Population 2000

City region and centre

Greater Helsinki Region

Other centre

N

1 200 000

150 000300 000

Greater Helsinki Region

5 0 k m

N

N U TS 4 REG IO NN U TS 3 REG IO N

G re a te r H e lsin ki Reg io n

H elsin ki M etro p o lita n A re aH elsin ki Reg io n

C a p ita l C en te rC enter o f N U TS 3 RegionC en te r o f N U TS 4 Reg ion

Population

• City of Helsinki: 560 000 inhabitants• Helsinki Region:

– 12 municipalities – 1,2 million inhabitants – 680 000 jobs– The region's share is 23 % of the population and

29 % of jobs in Finland • One of the strongest population growth rates in any

European cities in the period of 1995-2001

Economic base

• 33,6 % of Finland’s national product is produced in the Helsinki region

• Value added per capita 147,6 in the region (EU average 100)• Specialised in:

– business and financial services– trade and logistics– culture and leisure services – research & development– high technology manufacturing and services – higher education– national level administration

Economic changes in the 1990s

• Recession 1991-1993– Worst recession in OECD countries– Helsinki’s unemployment up to 20 per cent– 50 000 unemployed– problems with long-term unemployment

• Growth 1993-2001– One of the fastest growth rates in Europe– New jobs especially in the ICT sector– Dominated by Nokia, telephone operators and

subcontractors

Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• Developing Helsinki as a centre of science and research and the new knowledge-based industries

• Improving traffic and telecommunication links• Consolidating the cultural profile of the city• Developing a high-quality urban environment• Promoting the city internationally and creating new

international networks

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 1. International discussion on the economic impact of the arts was introduced in the Finnish scene in the early 1990s

• Authors such as Myerscough (1988) and van Puffelen (1986) were quoted and findings from various impact studies referred to.

• Some politicians who adopted these findings started to use impact study examples in arguing for a higher profile of the culture sector. Their interpretations were partly misjudged.

• Instrumental reasons were at the forefront, i.e., tourism income, various economic gains, enhancing the city’s image etc.

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 2. A concrete high-ranking project such as European City Culture opened up opportunities in re-orientating for the future.

• City authorities, both political and leading bureaucrats, were at loss as to where to steer the city amidst the troubled times where depression was considered to hit the city not purely economically but it also had impacts in the way people perceived their future. A big project was expected to kick-start a new and brighter era for the city.

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 3. City of Helsinki needed a focus for the future, a clear goal that would unite its citizens and its employees

• ‘A large organisation like city of Helsinki needs common goals and targets and European City of Culture project provided just that. It seemed easy to find support for the project all over the Helsinki organisation as people could relate with that. These kinds of projects are hard to come by and therefore this was a good choice.’ Deputy mayor Antti Viinikka

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 4. The culture sector offered means of marketing Helsinki cost-effectively and without great financial risks, i.e., even if the project could have failed, the financial consequences would not have been too great to bear.

• On the other hand, the project provided great potential in Helsinki’s international marketing and re-orientation.

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 5. In the process of Finland joining the European Union in 1995 Helsinki had to re-write itself on the European map.

• The culture sector with the City of Culture project could in part fulfil this expectation and draw energies together to image and realise such a goal. Therefore, by turning energies in this goal, the culture sector was allocated a major role in Helsinki’s image campaign.

Why culture gained significance in Helsinki’s strategy since 1994

• 6. The project proved to be ‘a great urban policy tool in a way that with little effort it could achieve a lot by bringing together the city of Helsinki and the national government – traditional rivals – as well as the business sector and neighbouring cities’. Eero Holstila, a leading Helsinki strategist.

Goals of the city of culture

• Develop Helsinki and its surroundings areas to bring lasting improvements to the quality of life of the residents.

• Introduce Helsinki and the whole of Finland to the international public as a vibrant and versatile seat of culture and competition.

• Theme: Information, Technology and the Future

Further aims of the city of culture

• Future. Culture is an investment in the future. Events and projects having a lasting impact and significance are prioritised.

• Finding new. The city culture project is a process. The aim is to find projects and methods enriching and reviving culture.

• Being international. Finnish culture is made familiar to Europeans. Simultaneously, Finns become acquainted with multicultural Europe.

• An event for all residents. The year of culture will be visible and effective in everyday living environment of ordinary people. Residents are more than just consumers of culture, they also act on their own initiative. The goal is participation and responsible sharing.

European City of Culture in Helsinki

• Shared together with 8 other cities• 500 events/projects• Budget 50 million euros• Economic impact 67 million euros• 5,4 million visits to events and projects• Well-received by local population• 43 % of the Helsinki Region population took part in

events provided for free, 21 % in events with a cover charge

• 700 journalists from abroad

Observations

• Engagement in the City of Culture process for Helsinki was a response to a particularly difficult economic recession.

• Partly the Year of Culture was used as a means of countering financially difficult times and bringing economic progress.

• More fundamentally, the process was used to negotiate major social and geopolitical changes that Helsinki encountered. In the 1990s Helsinki was in rapid transition in a multitude of ways and the culture sector provided a medium of understanding, representing and reacting to this situation.

Observations

• Definition of culture1. Way of life, anthropological2. Arts activity

• Helsinki adopted broad understanding of culture

• In the administration and steering arenas of Helsinki 2000 representatives from the traditional arts sectors were consciously avoided

Observations

• Transformative effects in terms of local identity, international recognition, financially

• Long-term effects partly unclear, partly unfulfilled

• Disappointment in the activity of independent production companies

”City of Culture is a good project,” percentage of those who agree with the statement, Helsinki

Capital Region%

V XI VI XI III VI IX I

40

50

60

70

80

1998 1999 2000 2001II

Helsinki - Helsingfors

Espoo/KauniainenEsbo/Grankulla Vantaa - Vanda

Yhteensä - Samtliga

Attitudes towards the goals of the Year of Culture, important or very important,

Helsinki Capital Region

Tehdä Helsinkiä kansainvälisesti tunnetuksiGöra Helsingfors känt utomlandsLisätä Helsinkiin suuntautuvaa matkailuaÖka turismen till Helsingfors

Lisätä asukkaiden ja elinympäristön viihtyisyyttäÖka invånarnas trivsel och boendemiljöns trivsamhet

Antaa asukkaille unohtumattomia elämyksiäGe invånarna oförglömliga upplevelser

Luoda edellytyksiä taiteen tekemiselleSkapa förutsättningar för att skapa konst

Luoda edellytyksiä paremmalle työllisyydelleSkapa förutsättningar för bättre sysselsättning

1998 1999 2000 2001

40

50

60

70

80

%

V XI VI XI III VI IX II I