What makeover shows teach us about city-building

First let me say that I'm thankful for the discussion the Ottawa Citizen initiated last week on building a better Ottawa. I learned so much about city-building. I hope the Citizen keeps up the discussion.

Friday afternoon the Citizen published articles by former mayor, Jim Durrell, and Kate Heartfield that brought a different spin to the discussion. It's good to hear from experienced people who can bring sobriety to emotional discussions.

The message I got from the articles is that we need to respect the natural and organic attributes of our city, whether geography, climate or culture, when building cities and that it's these things that make cities great.

This brings an analogy to mind- city-building is like a makeover. I used to be a big fan of the show What Not to Wear on TLC. There was something about watching someone being transformed and finding themselves.

Those kinds of shows aren't as much about making a woman into a beautiful person; they were already beautiful. It's about taking their natural features and making them, "pop!", or stand out, for the individual and the world to see.

A few weeks ago I said that Rideau Street east of King Edward would make a good International Village. I wrote about the number of ethnic businesses in the area already. Taking that organic and natural attribute and packaging it properly into an International Village through aesthetic improvement, or beautification, is the exact same thing that they do on the makeover shows. Taking a natural attribute and making it pop.

Creating Positive Brand Value for your city

I’ve written before about city branding but lately I’ve began to revisit the topic with inspiration from events in my city- Ottawa. The most recent economic development strategy talked about the need to rebrand the city from being just a government town, but unfortunately it didn’t actually include a brand strategy. I think the economic development strategy was being modest; Ottawa is known as a sleepy and boring small town.

Over the next seven years our city will undergo major changes that will positively impact the image of the city, but it’s more due to random projects than to a well thought out brand strategy. There are cities that communicate well and whose identities are well-known, like New York, Paris, Toronto and Montréal, and there are cities like Ottawa that don’t communicate as well and whose identities are still being figured out.

Every action that a local government, large corporation, college and university, or other significant group does communicates something and affects the city’s brand. This means that most decisions made by these local institutions have brand value. The new LED screen that will be erected at the Ottawa Convention Centre, our new segregated bike lanes, and our fairly new purchase of double-decker buses all have brand value.

When it comes to cities there’s what I call Positive Brand Value and Negative Brand Value. I define Positive Brand Value as “an action or decision undertaken by a local government, corporation, or any significant group that reinforces their city’s brand”. I define Negative Brand Value as “an action or decision undertaken by a local government, corporation, or any other significant group that hurts their city’s brand.”

With every action that is undertaken, these local institutions should not only focus on monetary value or value-added through efficiency but brand value. Double-decker buses have monetary and efficiency value but they also have brand value; they communicate that Ottawa is an international city. Even though I don’t cycle (but I’m strongly considering it) and I often get upset with cyclists, I think bike lanes are good for our city because they have brand value which is good for the overall economic development of the city.

Looking at the private sector, the design that a condo builder chooses for their next development can either have positive or negative brand value.

Local groups, businesses, and institutions, especially local governments, need to be made aware of whether their actions or decisions are creating positive or negative brand value for their city. This kind of awareness helps these groups and institutions to unify around a collective city vision and avoid behaviours that will tarnish their city’s image. Unfortunately there are many cities out there, like Ottawa, which lack a cohesive vision to unify around in the first place.

Kevin Bourne

reinventingottawa.blogspot.com

What's in a name?Naming a city's public spaces

I just realized something about myself with my last blog post. I’m really particular about how things are named, especially public spaces.

The very first task God gave Adam in the Garden of Eden was naming the animals. I imagine the names he came up with were based on their attributes and functions like how we’ve named dinosaurs today.

Names give life to ideas, create perceptions, and build emotional attachments, like a couple expecting a child who calls the baby by name instead of calling the baby “it”. Something happens when you name a thing.

I have a group of friends in Toronto where all of us are entrepreneurial. Whenever we get together we end up getting out a credit card and registering five to ten domain names for ideas we have, not only to secure the virtual real estate but to give life to the ideas. Again, something happens when you name a thing.

Earlier this year I read the book Blackberry by Rod McQueen. In one chapter they explained how they came up with the name Blackberry. They hired a naming firm who proposed hundreds of names for the device and narrowed them down through analysis. They assessed how the name sounded phonetically and what the name communicated. Other companies hire naming firms whether to name a shade of paint or a car model. A name that’s good phonetically and that communicates the right things can help a product to catch on with consumers and will influence sales. Apple does a great job of naming their products.

Closer to home we see the opposite. With the construction of the new Ottawa Convention Centre a decision was made to change the name from the Ottawa “Congress” Centre. According to the Chair, the word “Congress” was confusing to American event planners. Here we see that one word, that means something different in another jurisdiction, can lead to miscommunication and potentially hurt business.

In my previous post I questioned whether the name “Arts Court” would continue to communicate the significance of the facility to the city if used to name the whole complex. I questioned whether it would communicate well to people outside of our city, whether nationally or internationally. A few people acted like I had touched the Holy Grail; how dare I suggest such a thing. The Congress Centre situation shows that it wasn't exactly a far fetched observation.

What Ottawa can learn from Calgary and Winnipeg

Ottawa, I feel a sense of urgency. More than ever I believe that our city needs a real vision for its future. The soon-to-be released economic development strategy seems like a great place to start, attracting investment to emerging industries that have great growth potential. The arts and culture also seem to be increasingly on the City's radar in this term of council. I'm actually impressed with what's been happening during the term of Mayor Watson; I'm seeing vision from different players in the city. Nevertheless I still wonder if Ottawa is maximizing its potential as a major national centre in Canada.

This morning I read an article from Friday's Globe & Mail about the $215-million expansion of Canada Olympic Park in Calgary which WinSport CEO, Dan O’Neill envisions as a “One-stop shop for our [Canada’s] athletes.” The plan includes four new arenas, a high-performance sports institute, a new office space for Hockey Canada, new homes for Alpine Canada and the National Sports School, and a new home for the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame which will be relocating from Toronto’s exhibition grounds. Lastly, dirt from the construction of Calgary’s latest LRT project will be used to turn a hill in the park into a 180-metre high mountain for slalom skiers. All this on top of their current facilities and attractions. The goal is to make Canada into a winter sport powerhouse on the international stage by providing our athletes with a state-of-the-art place to train together and share ideas. At the same time it will make Calgary Canada’s undisputed centre for national sport, diversifying its local economy which is known primarily for oil. This is good news for Calgary which in 2009 surpassed the Ottawa-Gatineau area as the fourth largest metropolitan area despite the fact that we Ottawans still call ourselves Canada’s fourth largest city.

Also in the prairies, Winnipeg is experiencing tremendous growth as $460 million is being invested to build CentrePort, a 20,000 acre inland port being marketed as "Canada's Centre for Global Trade" and "Canada's First Foreign Trade Zone", as a part of the Mid-Continental Trade Corridor and the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative (APGCI). Built next to Winnipeg's James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, the site will include warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing facilities. The vision also includes a high-speed transportation corridor including a four-lane expressway to the site. Also of note, downtown Winnipeg will soon be graced with Canada’s first national museum outside of the National Capital Region with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Adding a new NHL franchise and gentrification of their downtown due to increased condo development and expansion of their university doesn’t hurt. With the growth of CentrePort, Winnipeg will soon be Canada's centre for shipping.

The level of vision being displayed here is tremendous. They aren't simply looking to diversify their local economies, they are carving out a niche for themselves in the Canadian economy, increasing their roles as national centres. 

Canada’s Capital lacking international symbols

I recently read the latest issue of Ottawa Technology magazine and am excited about the growth potential of our city.  Some people lament the departure of Nortel, especially former employees and their families, but I’m a firm believer in all things working out for good.  So what’s the silver lining in the Nortel situation?

We lost a Canadian company with operations around the world, but we gained more of an international scope with Swedish and American multi-nationals coming to the city- Ericsson, Ciena, Avaya and Genband.  Chinese telecom giant, Huawei, has also set up shop in Ottawa with its first R&D centre in Canada. 

Today I learned that French culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu, has their exclusive Canadian campus in Ottawa, putting it in the company of cities like Paris, London, Bankok, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.  

As a capital city with many embassies and high commissions, Ottawa already has somewhat of an international feel.  We’re growing as a tourism, culinary, cultural and convention destination.  We’re a bilingual city with British inspired architecture.  We’re fairly multicultural and have ethnic communities like Chinatown and Little Italy.  We’re a G8 capital and we have a world heritage site in the Rideau Canal (not sure how valuable these two designations are).  We have the traits to become a great international city and I believe the world will love our city once they get a chance to see it.  

I don’t know about you, but I would like to see our leaders explore Ottawa’s international identity more in depth.

There are quite a few public places downtown that communicate the national scope of our city.  The Canadian flag can be seen everywhere.  The Garden of the Provinces and Territories, Confederation Square, and the Government Conference Centre all have the flags of the provinces and territories communicating Ottawa as a national gathering place.  When people come to Ottawa from another province and see their flag it communicates, “You’re welcome here.  You’re at home here.”  

What about our international role?

I would love to see a public place in Ottawa, especially along Confederation Boulevard, that communicates our city as an international centre- Commonwealth Plaza with the flags of the members of the Commonwealth; or the Peace Square with the flags of all the countries with an embassy or high commission in Ottawa; or United Nations Park with the flags of all the countries in the United Nations.  Similar to nationalism, there are expressions of internationalism that Ottawa can pull off as the Capital that other cities in Canada can’t and they should be exploited.

It would be amazing to have such a destination and international meeting place in the heart of our city.  Similar to public places with provincial flags, this would communicate Ottawa as an international gathering place.  It would let our international visitors know, “You’re welcome here.  You’re at home here.”  

There are many national symbols in our city, but a lack of international symbols.  It shouldn’t just be assumed that Ottawa is an international city, or at least a budding one; it has to be actively and strategically communicated.

Branding Ottawa:Canada’s Technology Capital that Fun Forgot

Economic development around the world is changing.  As globalization increases so does the sense of competition between cities as well as countries.  It’s for this reason that Andrew Stevens of CityMayors.com says that city branding and identity of place are becoming so important in economic development and urban leadership.

The City of Portland aims to be the Green Capital of the World in five years, creating 10,000 jobs.  Vancouver aims to be the greenest city in the world by 2020.  Barbados aims to be the #1 entrepreneurial hub in the world by 2020 by being the first country in the world to be completely covered in Wi-Fi as of November 11, 2011.  These are very bold, almost lofty ambitions, but they attract people and investment, and inspire growth.

These three locations have already made significant strides in these respective areas.  Portland is already an international centre for sustainable transportation.  Vancouver is already known as the most liveable city in the world.  Barbados already has the most internet users per capita in the world.  For some reason they aren’t satisfied with just being A player, they want to be THE player or at least a MAJOR player.  These three jurisdictions are taking their strengths to the next level by setting clear goals and objectives which will make them competitive and will help to strengthen their brand.

Where is Ottawa?