Last month I (Johnson Shiu) joined the workshop for the design of Chinatown Gold Coast’s master plan with input from over 40 interested professionals, council members and business leaders, as well as many delegates from the Gold Coast’s Chinese Sister Cities Taipie and Chouhoi. Some impressive ideas have been put forward to bring a truly modern and unique Chinatown to life on the Gold Coast. You can read the article from The Gold Coast Bulletin here.

Creative Industry Definations:

Creative enterprises, those engaged in the commercial exploitation of intellectual property-based goods and services imbued with symbolic meaning (i.e., books, film, music), contribute significantly to the economic, social and cultural development of nations. These enterprises form complex networks in content-driven sectors, which in turn make up the creative industries. Their unique characteristics (i.e., original symbolic products) drive and sustain diverse cultural and customary traditions, and enhance social values. At the same time, they generate wealth, increase employment opportunities, and promote trade. Yet, their true value and potential are often underestimated and insufficiently analyzed.

The phrase creative industries (or sometimes creative economy) refers to a set of interlocking industry sectors that focus on creating unique property, content or design that previously did not exist. Economic contributions from creative industries have been increasing, particularly as manufacturing industries have become increasingly automated and process-driven. The economic contributions are often cited as being a growing part of the global economy.

Creative industries typically include industries that focus on: creating and exploiting intellectual property products such as music, books, film and games; or providing business-to-business creative services including advertising, public relations and direct marketing. Aesthetic live-performance experiences are also generally included, which contributes to an overlap with definitions of art and culture, and even aspects of tourism and sport. Economic activities focussed on designing, making and selling objects or works of art such as jewellery, haute couture, books of poetry and other creative writing, and fine art are often included in the sector because the value of such objects derives from a high degree of aesthetic originality.

Some of the key activities of the Creative Industries include: