Creative Spaces operational model scenarios
Client: City of Melbourne
Location: Melbourne, VIC
Year: 2022
Recasting operations for long-term sustainability.
Brief
The City of Melbourne’s renowned Creative Spaces program has provided affordable space for creative industries for fifteen years. However, due to property market and affordability pressures and urban renewal dynamics, it is becoming increasingly challenging to deliver the program at scale and with long-term impact. As part of its remit to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, the Creative Spaces team has been assessing the scope and impact of the program to ensure it continues to achieve its purpose. There was a need to recast the program to secure affordable space for creativity and retain Melbourne’s reputation as the country’s creative capital, delivering on Council’s key economic and social objectives.
Approach
Left Bank Co. was commissioned to help identify an alternative model for the Creative Spaces program and explore the parameters of Council’s responsibility in delivering creative space at scale, in the long term.
We also explored the viability of establishing a local version of models used in other global cities like the London Creative Land Trust, Artscape in Toronto and the Community Arts Stabilisation Trust in San Francisco. A model selection tool was developed for Council to evaluate the program within the context of the drivers of change and track a pathway for securing creative space based on aspects including ownership, operations, governance and financing. These aspects were tested with industry stakeholders and council leadership.
Impact
The findings from this exploration laid the foundations for the recommendations in the report. It proposed a long-term phased strategy that will eventually see a renewed City of Melbourne Creative Spaces program work hand-in-hand with external bodies to secure long-term property interests for the creative sector at reduced risk to Council.
