CREATIVE CITIES

Surprise, midweek thoughts

I wasn’t familiar with Canal St Martin prior to moving here in January. A bit daunting considering we relocated sight unseen based on several neutral to positive reviews on the area from friends (wildly out of character, for me). I have since fallen in love with its scale, intimate pedestrian streets, restaurants and cafes and generous local feeling. The canal and its charming passerelles and swing bridges are animated day and night by runners, bikers, commuters and restaurant-goers under the warm glow of cafe signage. My excitement at seeing our neighbourhood depicted in cult classic Amelie and Netflix’s new series, One Day, still takes me (and a generally even keeled Richard) by surprise.

Join me on some (Rick Rubinesque) navel-gazing.

There is something surreal about seeing your neighborhood depicted in film and television. As a Canadian, our cities are regularly transformed to take on the shape of our American metropolitan counterparts. Toronto’s nondescript glassy financial district is converted with ease into a counterfeit New York City or Boston, as most recently seen in Nicholas Cage’s Dream Scenario. Set in the American fictional town of Robing, an anagram of boring, I unmistakably spotted Shim-Sutcliffe’s Ace Hotel (admittedly not boring) and the University of Toronto. Director Kristoffer Borgli described Toronto as “the perfect boring city” to play the key leading role of “uninspiring backdrop”.

Why is Toronto so ubiquitous with boredom? Why did I always have to leave it to feel something (a sentiment that the film industry seems to also share)?

Since arriving in Paris, I have been overwhelmed with how creatively inspired I feel. I find myself excited as I select my outfit to step out for morning coffee (never as eager of course, as a I am about seeing what OTHERS are wearing), inspired as I share the streets with 100+ year old low rise Haussmannian buildings, cafes, brasseries and people from all over the world, and have even been called back to writing and reading ferociously. I feel as though I’ve been cracked open.

There is the obvious causal connection which is that the creative mind loves new things. Experiencing new people and a new part of the world challenges any previously held beliefs, making way in the mind for new ideas and possibilities. Toronto is arguably familiar and mundane.

But what role does the built environment play in fueling creativity? More specifically, the intangible magic of Paris’s urban fabric that has inspired countless great minds since the 18th century. Why doesn’t Toronto (generally speaking) seemingly provide the same fertile grounds for creativity?

This line of thinking on the intersection of the built environment and creativity led me to the term “Creative City” by Australian builder David Yencken which he describes as, “a city that fosters and thrives on creativity where everyone can have abundant opportunity to live, work and create”. Admittedly, not directly referencing the built environment, however many of these things are directly fostered and intertwined with urban planning and design.

I feel like this relationship underscores the complex interplay of cultural, social, economic, and environmental factors that shape our surroundings and influence creative expression, innovation, and well-being.

Cities can (and should) serve as dynamic engines for creativity. The incentivization and benefits for current and future generations alike are indisputable. They (cities) possess the very real potential of harnessing the power of creativity to drive cultural, economic and social development to enhance the quality of life in a very circular, symbiotic way.

Creativity begets creativity.

My realization? Am I in fact riding the boundless, self sustaining wave of creativity cemented by a city that has largely dedicated itself to perpetuating creativity for centuries.

*Looks up from computer out the window a la Carrie Bradshaw

Not seeking to make complete sense of this relationship or tie it up with a perfect bow. But more so, to describe the indescribable. To lend words to a feeling that is transitory, as these ephemeral states can only exist in the duality of feeling uninspired, stale, stuck.

I hope something inspiring calls you to be creative this week. And you respond in whatever way feels true and good.