Daniel, A., Gibson, M. (2009) Space for Creativity: Creative Industries in Outer Suburbia. Presentation to ‘City Growth, Sustainability, Vitality and Vulnerability’, State of Australian Cities Conference, University of Western Australia Perth, November 2009, < http://www.slideshare.net/AnnaMDaniel/space-for-creativity-creative-industries-in-outer-suburbia>.

1. Space for Creativity –
Creative Industries in Outer
Suburbia
Anna Daniel & Dr. Mark Gibson
National Centre for Australian Studies,
Monash University
Presentation to State of Australian Cities,
Nov09

2. Rationale
• Creative industries and SMEs are a key driver of future
economic growth
• Inner urban prejudice in creative industries research
• 4 key changes: cheaper space; cultural diversity; the internet;
polycentric city structures.
• So what is the state of creative industries in the outer
suburbs?
They said:
people asking ….where you exhibit? … like why you not moving
to city? ... I say no, I love Dandenong ... If you all want to move
to the city then … we’re going to live in Dandenong, yeah …
Most of them taking their work to the city, which is, like I’m
seeing is not fair, we have to have it in our … suburbs because
not all the people are able to travel to the city ... And there’s
many artists they just sit and they were like ‘there’s not much …
to do in our suburb’, so why are we not doing something to
make our suburb better? And look more nicer with our art
(Dandenong Visual Artist).

3. Creative Suburbia
• To listen to creative practitioners in the outer suburbs:
Frankston, Dandenong, Redcliffe and Springfield.
• Address factors that may affect the movement of jobs
to the outer suburbs
They said:
That’s what I’d be worried about if I moved to the city, just
space (Frankston Musician).

4. Physical space
• Cheaper land
• To establish a home based business, with no
commute
• Room for family
• Proximity to relatives
• Halfway between the city and rural lifestyles
They said:
Oh, fantastic .. near all the things for kids (Frankston
Illustrator).
Bigger house and … more space and that type of thing … but I’m
happy with the area (Frankston Film Producer)

5. Symbolic space: Headspace
• Perception of social space
• Less distractions, space to create
• Do it yourself ethos, creative initiative
They said:
Frankston is a good place to write songs….. There’s not a lot else
to do. Some bands, you go to LA and make a record but you’re
kinda getting sidetracked by all this other crap to do. Here in
Frankston, you just don’t leave the room and you play guitar all
goddamn day (Frankston Musician (Simos 2005)).
I realised that there was no exhibition space for all of these
talented people out here, there’s nothing so I thought well I can
do this (Dandenong Curator)

6. Symbolic space cont’d…
• Are the outer suburbs a blank canvas?
• It is not absolutist, nor are the suburbs a
monoculture
They said:
I’m free in this area … I’ve got that freedom to do what I want to
do (Frankston Visual Artist)
sort of not too far away from the city, but you’re still away from
the city, so yeah. It’s not all hustle and bustle (Frankston
Musician)

7. Proximity to Bush and
Bay
• There is stimulus but it’s a different kind of stimulus
- Nature
• They are not tree changers
• Romanticism
They said:
it’s still got a very sort of rural feel about it and the thing that I
really like is its proximity to the bay, to the water … only half an
hour drive to the ocean beaches as well, which is one of the main
reasons I initially set up business here rather than closer to the city
(Frankston Graphic Designer).
We have a lot of nature and from nature we can create everything.
… We don’t need to imitate (Frankston Photographer).

8. Romanticism
They said:
I hate the city, … I hate the traffic, I don’t like the crush, I don’t like
the smell, I don’t like the noise, I don’t like….there’s nothing about
the city that I like… I find it oppressive, I find it … threatening, I find
the city intellectually threatening… all these great big glass
skyscrapers everywhere… it is inhumane,.. it dominates, it tends to
put people in an ‘ant like’ position. You’ve got these elephantine
structures over you, dominating you, forcing you down into some…
almost into submission, intellectual submission. … whereas being
surrounded by … massive trees, … massive mountains, being
surrounded by things like that is not even remotely intimidating,
not even remotely. In fact it’s exhilarating…. it’s like being
surrounded by the stars, … it’s enervating. These multistorey office
blocks, they’re not, they’re inhumane, and I’ve never liked them. …. I
find that [big cities] do tend to … dominate the thinking and you
end up by being as it were squeezed into its mould. Squeezed into
the mould of whatever the city is trying to squeeze you into and that
is a real problem. … they squeeze you into a sort of … a form of
conformity, you know, and you end up by conforming to a … to a
MASS … a mass thinking. You’re an ant … you lose your uniqueness,
you lose your individuality, you lose your creativity as it were. And
your creativity, whatever your creativity is, tends to have to
conform to a pattern (Frankston Architect).

9. Concluding points
• We have identified hundreds of creative industry practitioners in
the outer suburbs. The development of suburban creative
industries is important to future SME and economic growth.
• In light of forecast population growth, the Australian urban
development community should consider policy responses
towards creativity in the suburbs:
– Space is valued as a sense of place-making and is important
in urban design
– Creatives tend to lead social changes, and we are hearing a
strong romantic attachment to nature.
They said:
The only thing that I suppose that people that live in areas like
this are worried about is.. if…when people try to put multi
dwelling units … pulling the density up too high. … One of the
things about a typical suburban block about this size is that … it
works pretty well… there’s always potential in an area like this
where … some developer will look at it and say…. how can I
make a quid out of this … and they wreck it. So it’s just a matter
of sensible planning control (Frankston Architect).

10. Concluding points
• We have identified hundreds of creative industry practitioners in
the outer suburbs. The development of suburban creative
industries is important to future SME and economic growth.
• In light of forecast population growth, the Australian urban
development community should consider policy responses
towards creativity in the suburbs:
– Space is valued as a sense of place-making and is important
in urban design
– Creatives tend to lead social changes, and we are hearing a
strong romantic attachment to nature.
They said:
The only thing that I suppose that people that live in areas like
this are worried about is.. if…when people try to put multi
dwelling units … pulling the density up too high. … One of the
things about a typical suburban block about this size is that … it
works pretty well… there’s always potential in an area like this
where … some developer will look at it and say…. how can I
make a quid out of this … and they wreck it. So it’s just a matter
of sensible planning control (Frankston Architect).