LECTURE 9: TRANS-LOCAL SCENES

Question 1

3 ways in which knowledge can flow:

Answer 1

1) F2F COMMUNICATION - e.g. meeting in a local coffee shop (also known as local buzz)
2) GLOBAL PIPELINES or TEMPORARY CLUSTERS e.g. 2 workers from 2 companies from around the world meeting in one city for a conference to discuss a new product
3) VIRTUAL CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION e.g. email, message boards, conferences calls or social media

Question 2

Used to be that f2f communications was the best way to exchange knowledge but it’s also…

Answer 2

the most costly in terms of time and energy because you need to go and actually meet.

Question 3

Grabher and Ibert (2014) argument about internet vs f2f

Answer 3

using internet forums and message boards can be even better than face-to-face in some respects.

Question 4

when face-to-face communication was regarded as the best way to communicate and work together firms thought they had to..

Answer 4

cluster in dense proximity and this is why firms and people crammed into cities and clusters like London, New York and Sillicon valley

Question 5

Definitions of:

1) Codified knowledge
e. g.

2) Tacit knowledge

Answer 5

1) Info which has well-defined meanings
- -> Usually technical or scientific in nature and can be understood by various parties across space even if they have different languages and cultural practices
- LESS SPACE SENSITIVE
e. g. Ikea instructions

2) Knowledge being understood by only a small group of insiders, people who understand the local context of the knowledge as there is no common vocabulary

Question 6

Local buzz definition

So just by being there literally and physically, people…

Answer 6

• localized knowledge
• information and communication ecology created by face-to- face contacts, co-presence and co-location of people and firms within the same industry and place or region

… continuously contribute to and benefit from the diffusion of information, gossip and news

Question 7

Why seek info from outside the cluster? (2)

Answer 7

• Important to monitor and understand what other producers are doing in other parts of the world
• And what consumers trends are developing

Question 8

‘Temporary clusters’ reference

Answer 8

Maskell (2006)

Question 9

Furniture trade fairs

1) Reference
2) Description

Answer 9

1) Power and Jansson (2008)
2) producers and retailers from all over the world meet in cities like Milan at the same time every year to interact and exchange knowledge

Question 10

Could consider global pipelines like…

Answer 10

… renting access to local buzz in a just-in-time manner

Question 11

Grabher and Ibert (2014) virtual communication explanation

Answer 11

Virtual communication has been transformed fundamentally. From the early static websites, bulletin-boards and listserv-mailing systems, the evolution of the so-called web 2.0 affords new dimensions and qualities of interactivity. And now virtuality implies a novel mode of two-way flow of mass or personalised communication.

Question 12

Trans-local

Answer 12

• Connections and interactions between localized individuals and scenes across spaces
• whereas these interactions may have started in a very face-to-face way in recent years they have evolved to include a whole range of virtual communication and the use of temporary clusters and global pipelines

Question 13

Trans-local goth scenes during mid to late 1990s in UK

1) Reference
2) Aim

Answer 13

1) Hodkinson
2) Wanted to determine, through ethnographic research, why goth scenes, including styles, practices and attitudes were similar and consistent from place to place.

Question 14

Hopkinson (2004) book chapter explains that if one spends sufficient time around Goths = likelihood is that….(2)

Answer 14

1) Strong sense of group identity will become apparent, alongside an equally strong sense of distinction from perceived outsiders
2) This subjective perception of sameness and difference operated largely irrespective of the boundaries of place

Question 15

Hopkinson (2004) book chapter and observation of goth scenes in different spaces

Answer 15

• Indeed, he reports that although there were subtle differences among the case areas of Plymouth, Leeds, and Birmingham, local distinctiveness was overshadowed by a remarkable degree of similarity in overall range of tastes and values on display in each area
• There was a consistency of general stylistic themes, and he could identify and observe exactly the same makes and items of clothing or accessories worn by goths in different places. Moreover, the content of DJs set lists and individual collections of records and CDs were really similar.

Question 16

1) What did Hopkinson (2004) discover is the reason for such uniformity across space?
2) Similarity to the temporary clusters described in the other literature

Answer 16

1) Goths themselves and the DJs, clothing makers and shop owners would all come together in a series of weekend festivals - the biggest of which was the Whitby Gothic weekend
- So you had thousands of people coming together at regular intervals just a like temporary cluster
2) this was the time and place where people would explain, monitor, and observe what was going on and then take this knowledge about what to listen to or wear or sell or do back to their base locations

Question 17

Hopkinson (2004)

“Constituent style across space”

1) Description
2) e.g.

Answer 17

1) talks a lot about the role of specialist retailers of music and clothing who played a huge role in the construction of what he called a constituent style across space
2) if a new line of clothing or accessories sold successfully for one retailer, they would tell the others at festival and then these items would be stocked in all the shops in all the towns and cities

Question 18

2 important things that Hopkinson (2004) says in his book chapter:

Answer 18

1) these types of trans-local scenes need more research because they are important yet poorly understood

2) he raises the transformative potential of digital technologies
- this online form of ‘word of mouth’ enabled subscribers to keep up with the trans-local goth scene with minimum proactive effort

Question 19

4 interrelated qus from conference call:

Answer 19

1. To what extent are these scenes and neighborhoods actually homogenous?
   

2. What are the mechanisms, such as temporary clusters, new social media, low-cost travel and increased mobility that enable or encourage trans-local uniformity?
3. What are the implications of homogeneity and these mechanisms for actors, products, scenes, neighborhoods, the cities they are located within, policy agendas and broader social/political movements?
   

4. How can academic research on these phenomena inform, test, challenge and nuance geographical knowledge and theory?

Question 20

Focus on first question of determining the degree of uniformity across space

1) How was it done?
2) Description of profile
3) Profile also includes…
4) Once the database was constructed =

Answer 20

1) Content analysis of neighbourhood profiles found in the in-flight magazine called Re-Porter which is produced by the boutique regional airline Porter Airlines based in Toronto, Canada
2) Each profile gives the reader a roadmap to explore the neighbourhood including what do to, where to eat and drink, where to go shopping and which boutique hotel to stay in
3) Interviews with 3 local residents - typically sommeliers, artists and shop owners - who describe the vibe of the neighborhood and what they like about living there
4) started looking for similarities and themes across the 28 profiles and this is where we get our numerical results from

Question 21

3 themes from conference call findings:

Answer 21

1) FEEL OF THE PROFILED NEIGHBOURHOODS
2) TYPES OF SHOPS THAT HELP CREATE AN OVERALL FEEL FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
3) CURATION

Question 22

FEEL OF THE PROFILED NEIGHBOURHOODS

Answer 22

• Overall the profiles spin similar and consistent narratives about formerly derelict quarters that have been transformed into desirably gritty destinations by hardworking and creative local entrepreneurs
• The profiles repeatedly describe places like Williamsbug or Wicker park as formerly industrial, down-and-out neighbourhoods that are now ‘gritty in a good way’ thanks to the infusion and hard work of bohemian, or should we say hipster, entrepreneurs that are pulling the neighbourhood up by its bootstraps

Question 23

analysis revealed a strong and widespread connection to the specific urban aesthetics associated with…

Answer 23

Grana’s accounts of early bohemia and Lloyd’s subsequent study of Wicker Park in the 1990’s and what he called neo-bohemia.

Question 24

2- Types of shops that help create an overall feel for the neighborhood

1) Results
2) Retail recommendations

Answer 24

1) content analysis revealed a remarkable degree of similarity across the profiled neighbourhoods. For example, of the 112 restaurants recommended by the magazine 33% were some sort of dive bar, oyster bar or gastropub
2) Of the 84 shops, 29% are mens or women’s clothing

Question 25

When analyzing types of shops (2nd theme from findings), focused on 3 types of business (3)

Answer 25

Fashion, vintage and coffee.

Question 26

When we looked at the profiles for men’s fashion boutiques we found :

Answer 26

which has seen a resurgence as of late and has been described as more cutting edge than women’s fashion, we see a high degree of similarity in the descriptions - especially in terms of the types of clothing and brands being sold and the vibe and experience being offered

Question 27

‘Reap and Sew’ example

1) Description
2) Kinds of stock

Answer 27

1) Ottawa’s premier independent menswear boutique, stocks a well- edited selection of brands with unshakable cred

2) Classic wool duffel coats and (very manly) jewellery, like scuffed-up dog tags by Toronto’s 18Waits
- In a show of civic pride, the shop also makes T-shirts and mugs emblazoned with the names of Ottawa streets

Question 28

Rue Beaubien

1) Location
2) Transformation

3) What is new to the street?
4) What does the store also offer?

Answer 28

1) Montreal
2) From a neglected corridor chock full of empty storefronts to one of the neighbourhoods most vibrant

3) Boutique 363 - menswear mecca that specializes in cool streetwear from up-and- coming designers you won’t find elsewhere in the city
4) classics such as Levi’s jeans, vintage printed button-downs and rainbow-hued silicone watches from local designer Folio Object.

Question 29

Much like menswear, we see similar descriptions of …

Answer 29

vintage clothing and design stores

Question 30

Coffee shops are incredibly prevalent in the data and they are also…

Answer 30

very similar in terms of the high-tech equipment used in order to make the best possible coffee, while trying to appeal to a range of community members

Question 31

However many of the coffee shops are run by people who have brought their skills, techniques and ideas from other parts of the world, highlighting that…

Answer 31

one of the underlying mechanisms is that the migration of people between scenes may contribute to the trans-local uniformity of tastes and practices

Question 32

Geoff Polci story

Answer 32

• Opened his café after a two-year stint running a restaurant in Costa Rica, which ignited a love of fine coffee
• Back home Polci ensures every cup of coffee is made with loving care and he invested a $5,000 reverse osmosis system, which removes chlorine from the water and takes out the hardness

Question 33

‘Curation’ theme

• Basing their business brand and reputation on…

Answer 33

Not only are the types of shops similar but the shops themselves are branding themselves as curators for whatever they sell

.. their curatorial ability

Question 34

Strolerville

Answer 34

no surprise that Toronto’s most impeccably curated baby shop would put down roots here

Question 35

‘Acquire

1) Store for
2) Location
3) Offers…

Answer 35

1) Furniture and home accessories
2) tucked away on a neighbourhood side street
3) an eclectic but carefully curated mix of cashmere throws; canvas-covered pillows; modern glass-blown vases and bowls; and such vintage finds as, Holmegaard glassware and taxidermy birds

Question 36

based on the preliminary results from this study of North American cities, we said that we could identify a strong degree of…

Answer 36

uniformity with respect to the types of people, activities and aesthetics in the profiled neighbourhoods

Question 37

Gordon Douglas @ NYU presentation: talked about 2 projects related to the call:

Answer 37

1) Global cities and trans-local uniformity

2) Use of what he calls DIY or unauthorised urban improvements

Question 38

1) Gordon Douglas was really interested in…

2) Example of

Answer 38

1) He was really interested in how and why certain practices are developed and spread across space not only through virtual channels but also direct face-to-face interaction
2) spread of contemporary street art which started in the late 1960’s in New York has now spread around the world

Question 39

producers are not only going around to different cities to make street art but…

Answer 39

seeing and comparing graffiti has become a popular form of tourism

Question 40

Fodors’ and other guides are listing and ranking the top graffiti places in the world

1) London
2) New York

Answer 40

1) no. 7

2) no. 1

Question 41

1) But it is not just that there is street art in many cities but rather that the artists are traveling around from city to city and…
2) Example of brazilian artist
3) Other example

Answer 41

1) …leaving their artwork as a public sign posting of this reality
2) we see the same Brazilian artist putting similar images in Williamsburg in New York and Kreutsberg in Berlin

3) Parisian artist Invader who was featured in the recent Banksy documentary
- -> based in Paris but is very global. He has posted these little mosaic aliens in at least 64 different cities, to our knowledge

Question 42

1) First part of Gordon’s talk looked at a study of…

2) And he argued…

Answer 42

1) 8 artists in different cities and how they served as a trans-local network that connected cities like Barcelona, Paris and Tokyo and that we can actually identify linkages and map them out across space
2) And he argued that this was a way to see the connectivity and think about the directional spread

Question 43

1) Not just about cities but..

2) So when we see an invader piece here in Tokyo we know that…

Answer 43

1) neighbourhoods and scenes within cities

2) … this artist has come this specific neighbourhood as a sort of pilgrimage

Question 44

So whole cities like New York or Barcelona become meccas but so do…

Answer 44

specific neighbourhoods like say Shoreditch in London

Question 45

DIY urban design

1) Reference
2) Description
3) Examples
4) Key here is not just that… but that in some cases we can …

Answer 45

1) Gordon

2) Become visible in cities around the world
- Defines it as unauthorziued yet ostensibly functional and civic-minded physical alternations or additions to the urban streetscape in forms of analogous to official planning and design elements

3) we see people making bike lanes or benches next to bus stops or things like guerrilla gardening
4) these activities are occurring across space… actually track the connections and flows between these practices and the people who perform them - from group to group and city to city because it is such a small phenomena

Question 46

1) While most do-yourselfers had personal and local motivations for making the improvements themselves, in many cases…
3) Example
4) Also the groups had been in contact with each other after…
5) So it seems that there are a small number of…
6) So the ideas and techniques are…

Answer 46

1) .. the ideas and model for what to do were inspired from something else
2) Some of the DIY bike lane painters he spoke to in LA who responsible for the bike lane on the right were motivated by the lack of infrastructure in their neighbourhood but they said they were also directly inspired by Toronto’s urban repair squad on the left who have been doing this for years
4) …discovering each other online
5) seminar groups in different subcategories of activities who are leading the way for other groups
6) Diffusing across space

Question 47

1) Example: traffic calming and community building or quote unquote intersection repair actions pioneered in Portland
2) the guy from Portland who did this intersection was…

Answer 47

1) So on the left is one from Portland in 1996 but the right is a baltimore intersection from 2011
- Baltimore one was done officially by a local business improvement organisation and this shows the fluidity of not only the practice but also the formality or legitimacy.
3) conscripted by a group in LA to come down and help them

Question 48

Example: guerrilla gardening

Answer 48

Even though it first appeared in 1973 along with squatting and other place-based protests in the lower-east side of manhattan, most of the people who Gordon interviewed referred him back to one guy named Richard Reynolds who had written a book on it and really reinvigorated the term in 2004

Question 49

Case study: Parking day

1) Started in
2) How did it start?
3) So some of this exchange has been rather personal and direct with…

Answer 49

1) San Francisco in 2005
2) with a single parking space - which was paid for with the meter for the day and then turned into a park - and then today it happens every September in literally hundreds of city in the same way
3) .. people traveling to different cities, like the artists, to meet up and share ideas and in other cases people come to them

Question 50

Example: from Dallas

1) What does it show?
2) Example of what

Answer 50

1) where something that started as a minor improvement has become a major consultancy and the practice has been exported to over 50 cities
2) Where as these practices spread they can also become formalised and used for purposed that were not originally intended

Question 51

1) ‘Tactical urbanism’
2) However, as Gordon pointed out,
3) No matter how many signs that denote their publicness…
4) Gordon’s final point

Answer 51

1) Aesthetics of these practices come from DIY urban design and have become linked to creative place making or what is called tactical urbanism
2) in principle a park-let is a public space and are signposted as such but they are designed in many cases to look like an extension of a private spaces like restaurants
3) certain groups are excluded
4) we not only need to think about what is happening and the underlying mechanisms but to think critically about the implications for cities. For people, for economic development and policies

Question 52

“Trans-local anchors”

1) May include

Answer 52

1) physical entities like maker spaces which encourage productive practices, cafes or clubs which serve as sub-cultural hangouts, or indie retailers that help to diffuse trends and products

Question 53

Example of a temporary and cyclical anchor

Answer 53

• Fashion week

Question 54

Role of fashion weeks traditionally

Answer 54

traditionally served as key anchors and field- configuring events which create and communicate values, structure the industry and reinforce its global hierarchy.

Question 55

1) Bi-annual ‘big four’ fashion weeks
2) What do they showcase?
3) When do they occur?

Answer 55

1) New York, London, Milan and Paris
2) Top designers for the press, buyers and bloggers
3) Twice a year, fashion week brings together press and buyers to view the latest designer collections

Question 56

Although the clothing is shown a season in advance, the intention is to…

Answer 56

…show clothing to buyers, who will then place orders and designers will make the clothes.

Question 57

Importantly, the press and buzz around fashion week also dictates….

Answer 57

…the trends that trickle down to other segments of the fashion industry

Question 58

1) However, more recently, the economic and symbolic supremacy of fashion weeks, as local temporary anchors, is being challenged because…
2) Put it simply…

Answer 58

1) Because in the age of Instagram and ‘see now, buy now’ fashion marketing and consumption, the relevance of fixed-calendar events, ‘seasons’ and production cycles is being tested
2) consumers don’t want to wait six months to purchase the clothing they are seeing live on the runway streamed from their phones – they want to buy it immediately

Question 59

1) While influential actors such as ____ are…

2) Some brands such as…

Answer 59

1) New York Fashion Week are commissioning reports about the future of fashion week to determine how to move forward
2) Burberry and Tommy Hilfilger have taken the more proactive and radical step of presenting clothing on the runway and making it immediately ‘shoppable.’

Question 60

2 examples of fashion weeks in Toronto

3) How do these events act as anchors?

Answer 60

• Atlantic Canada Fashion Week
• Western Canada Fashion Week

3) By serving as a key temporary spaces where designers, media, and the buyers come together twice a year to network, exchange knowledge, and build their respective businesses

Question 61

Toronto fashion week

1) Example of a..
2) Funding diff with London and Toronto

3) What made Toronto fashion week unique from the beginning?
4) Size evolution

Answer 61

1) Failed anchor
2) London which receives funding and support from the City of London, UK economic development and the EU development fund, Toronto fashion week was a grassroots, bottom up initiative
3) Consumers were invited to buy tickets and attend which still doesn’t happen in many cities
4) Event grew from an audience of 200 people in 2000 to 40,000 in 2011 and while never on par with the big four, it functioned for over a decade as the biggest and most influential fashion weeks in Canada

Question 62

Role of Toronto fashion week for Canada’s national fashion industry

Answer 62

• Played an important role in Canada as the focal point for the national fashion industry
• The week would bring the prominent and exciting designers coming to Toronto to show their latest collections to the largest audience of press, buyers, and customers that a designer could find within the country.

Question 63

Toronto fashion week and IMG

Answer 63

• The upward trajectory of the event resulted in Toronto Fashion Week being sold to and international sports, events and talent agency called IMG in 2012.
• This sale was meant to take the week to the next level by injecting it with more resources and support but things did not go as planned
• In July 2016, IMG - who continues run fashion weeks around the world such as Berlin, New York and Tokyo, - chose to pull the plug and cancel Toronto fashion Week

Question 64

Local factors why Toronto Fashion Week failed

Answer 64

Lacked governmental and institutional support - always operated without targeted investment from the city and country

Question 65

While Toronto Fashion Week was the largest showcase in Canada, it struggled to act as a…

lthough the week featured a start-up competition sponsored by Mercedes Benz to help identify emerging talent, in general the… .was prohibitive

Answer 65

local anchor for smaller independent or emerging designers.

high costs of putting on a runway show proved prohibitive for most new designers who ended up staying home

Question 66

High costs of formally participating also meant that… such as….

Answer 66

a large amount of fashion week activity in Toronto continued to take place off site, such as in in semi-private designer showcases and studio shows

Question 67

1) IMG cited __ for cancelling Toronto Fashion Week

2) And by local support, IMG claimed that…

Answer 67

1) A lack of local support

2) Toronto Fashion Week failed to generate the partnership and sponsorship revenue needed to produce the event

Question 68

1) While the management efforts of IMG could be debated, we would argue that ____ contributed to the failure of this anchor
2) compared to other industries such as music and events such as the Toronto International Film Festival, ____ is not regarded as an industry or event to invest in and get excited about

Answer 68

1) The much broader lack of recognition and support for fashion as culture
2) Toronto International Film Festival

Question 69

Global factors that constrained Toronto Fashion Week’s ability to function as an effective anchor (2)

Answer 69

1) Toronto occupies a secondary position in the fashion hierarchy
2) Toronto Fashion Week operated extremely late in the fashion calendar and well after the big four which hurt the event - by the time Toronto fashion week rolled around the intense global ‘buzz’ around fashion week was dying down and the budgets of the big fashion buyers had already been spent abroad

Question 70

How have new technologies and shifts have exacerbated Toronto’s frail condition?

Answer 70

• While independent designers did tell us about the benefits of Toronto fashion Week, including opportunities to gain skills and learn the ropes, many also felt that newer ways of presenting to the press and public, such as pop-up shops or studio showcases were a more effective, cost efficient and flexible way to share their collections

Question 71

Ultimately, the cancellation of Toronto fashion week and the failure of this anchor has a range of implications for…

Answer 71

… different actors and scales

Question 72

At the micro-level, independent designers have always struggled to figure out….

Answer 72

which industry events to attend and how to allocate their limited resources

Question 73

Despite Toronto Fashion Week’s limitations it was the obvious event to attend. But now…

Answer 73

designers are really struggling to navigate the confusing aftermath of competing regional fashion weeks, pop-up shops, studio showcases and other events

Question 74

While Toronto has the largest share of fashion industry- related actors, such as magazines, fashion schools and PR firms, it is also…

Answer 74

highly competitive and unsupportive. But with the loss of fashion week it is also highly unstable and lacks a core anchor to bring the industry together

Question 75

By extension, at the national level, Canada now lacks a dominant national fashion week to act as…

Answer 75

… a centralized international springboard

Question 76

we have argued elsewhere that the lack of a core city is a strength for Canada because…

Answer 76

…it’s diverse regional system provides more opportunities for designers of different sizes, scales and ambitions

Question 77

1) Examples of hope for the future and potential for new local anchors to emerge in Toronto’s fashion scene
2) And importantly…

Answer 77

1) In the 6 months following the cancellation of Toronto Fashion Week, two new women’s fashion weeks were announced, as well as three pop-up shops with different locations and timings across the city
2) Each of these initiatives has been spearheaded by different influential actors in the Toronto fashion community

Question 78

So to wrap up there is still a lot of research and thinking to be done around; (2)

Answer 78

1) the nature of trans-local scenes
2) the mechanisms (including anchors, digital technologies and the movement of people) that enable and encourage flows of information, practices and values across space, industry and scale.