三十年前，伴我發展的倫敦恍如在走向衰敗。它已落空了一個帝國，很多癥結家當——最顯著的是航運和制作業——都位於式微中。
上世紀60年月，倫敦船埠區曾非常忙碌，但到了80年月初期，已變得冷僻下來。
固然，倫敦並不是唯逐一座盡力應答去產業化的西方都會。現實上，這裏宏大的企業部分、著名學府、各類專業人材、當局機構和有名的旅行天堂，讓這座都會比多半都會都更具性命力。
倫敦與其他很多西方中間都會都逐步地找到了步入後產業化時期的路徑。固然各地的詳細路徑都不雷同，但根本方法相似。這些都會沒有去支持式微的家當，相反，它們發明本身的將來在於吸引並留住新辦事經濟的“明星”——具有高技巧的青年專業人材及創業家、“常識型員工”和“創意人士”。這須要都會政府襲擊犯法，並投資於交通、黌舍、大眾空間及文化。
現在，很多後產業都會發明本身正置身於一個二十年前還險些沒法想象的處境：面對淪為本身勝利的就義品的危害。它們的經濟和生齒敏捷擴大，但貧富差距和生存本錢也隨之直線上升。市政引導人再也不擔心吸引不到青年才俊，而是擔心若何阻攔人材被擠出去。
倫敦便是一個例子。作為英國的都城，倫敦歷久以來一向依附於本身對藝術家和立異者的吸引力。這些人對倫敦的勝利相當主要。倫敦享譽天下的創意家當——包含音樂、片子、戲劇、出書、畫廊、計劃及告白——重要得益於源源賡續的、有才幹的年青人的滋養。大衛•鮑伊(David Bowie)曾是一位來自倫敦南部、原名大衛•瓊斯(David Jones)的年青歌手。
二三十歲的學者、科技創業家創作發明了倫敦在科研和數字立異方面的上風。倫敦有巨大卻被低估的社會與國民立異汗青——倫敦為天下孕育了救濟兒童基金會(Save the Children)、大赦國際(Amnesty International)及援非結合樂團(Band Aid)——這也是由青年人材推進的。
只管如斯，倫敦對創意群體的友愛性已大不如早年。倫敦熱烈的藝術創作遭到了各式各樣的威逼，包含無本性的開辟、對夜店過嚴的審批和羈系、日趨嚴厲的簽證軌制和對藝術和文化大眾贊助的削減。倫敦最大的題目在於高得恐怖的生存本錢。自2007年以來，三分之一的倫敦音樂演出園地已封閉。2014年一項對藝術家事情場合的研討估計，按今朝的趨向，倫敦在2020年以前將落空30%的藝術家事情室。房價已貴得離譜。倫敦市長辦公室的數據表現，多半倫敦藝術家事情一年收入不到1萬英鎊，而倫敦衡宇均價為50萬英鎊。難怪報紙上充滿著倫敦年青人搬到布賴頓、布裏斯托爾、巴塞羅那和柏林的故事。
倫敦並不是獨一面對此類題目的都會。巴黎曾是藝術發明力代名詞，但十幾年來，作為一座“平安、過分管束、有空調的都會”的榮譽傷害了它的藝術發明力。紐約人對中產階層化和都會損失活氣的擔心與倫敦人千篇一律，紐約藝術家大量出走洛杉磯已激發大批評論辯論。
正如一些都會花了很長期來探求走出產業闌珊的路徑同樣，要找到一種辦法來堅持後產業化都會繁華所須要的鬧熱熱烈繁華與活氣也須要一段時光。
曩昔，年青的立異者曾簇擁至老舊城區，這裏有許多光鮮的特點且房錢廉價。當這些處所被開辟後，咱們將不能不想法打造新的能以一樣方法施展感化的新街區。
在掩護和繁華半夜文化方面，市政引導將不能不施展更多朝上進步精力——繼阿姆斯特丹以後，巴黎錄用了一名夜間市長。倫敦也在有樣學樣。善士與大眾贊助機構須要通力合作，掩護當地的文化中間和藝術家事情室。
最優良的開辟商已開端懂得他們可以從投資大眾範疇得到的代價，但他們還須要學會看到其他文化資產的代價。生存本錢最高的都會將不能不摸索是不是和若何將保障性住房擴展到籠罩創意事情者。
賣力藝術的倫敦副市長穆尼拉•米爾紮(Munira Mirza)說得很好。“文化之於倫敦就像太陽之於西班牙。”即使最強勢的市政引導對本地的氣象也無可若何怎樣。但咱們的都會必需學會若何讓文化堅持璀璨。
【參考譯文】
The London I grew up in 30 years ago felt like a city on the way down. It had lost an empire and many of its key trades, most obviously shipping and manufacturing, were in decline.
In the 1960s London’s docklands had never been busier but by the early 1980s they had collapsed.
London of course was not the only western city struggling with deindustrialisation. Indeed, with its large business sector, its renowned universities, many professions, government institutions and great tourist attractions, the city was more resilient than most.
Slowly London and many other western urban centres learned how to navigate their way to the post-industrial age. While the precise route differed from one place to another, the basic approach was similar. Instead of shoring up declining trades, cities found that their future lay in attracting and retaining the stars of the new service economy — highly skilled young professionals and entrepreneurs, “knowledge workers” and “creatives”. This involved city authorities tackling crime and investing in transport, schools, the public realm and culture.
Many post-industrial cities now find themselves in a position almost unimaginable only a couple of decades ago: they risk falling victim to their own success. Their economies and their populations have expanded fast and inequality and living costs have shot up-with them. City leaders no longer worry about attracting young talent but how to stop it from being squeezed out.
London is a case in point. The UK’s capital has long depended on its appeal to artists and innovators. They have been vital to its success. London’s world-conquering creative industries — its music, film, theatre, publishing, gallery, design and advertising activities — are nourished by an endless stream of talented and mainly young people. David Bowie was once a young singer from south London called David Jones.
The capital’s strengths in scientific research and digital innovation are fed by academics and tech entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s. London has a great, if somewhat under-appreciated history of social and civic innovation — this is the city that gave the world Save the Children, Amnesty International and Band Aid — and this too has been fuelled by youthful talent.
That said, London is much less welcoming to the creative class than it once was. The threats to London’s sense of buzz are various. They include characterless development, overzealous licensing and policing of nightspots, an increasingly restrictive visa system and cuts to public funding of arts and culture. By far the biggest problem is the sheer price of living in the city. A third of London’s music venues have closed since 2007. The 2014 Artists Workplace study predicted that, on present trends, London will lose 30 per cent of artist studios before 2020. Housing is incredibly expensive. According to the office of the city’s mayor, most London artists make less than ￡10,000 a year from their work, when the average house price is ￡500,000. No wonder newspapers are full of stories of young Londoners moving to Brighton, Bristol, Barcelona and Berlin.
London is not the only city facing this problem. Paris, once a byword for artistic creativity, has suffered from a reputation of being a safe, over-regulated and air-conditioned city for more than a decade. New Yorkers worry about gentrification and the loss of urban vitality in almost exactly the same terms that Londoners do and there has been a much discussed exodus of New York artists to Los Angeles.
Just as it took cities a long time to work out a route out of industrial decline, so it will take a time to come up with a recipe for preserving the buzz and vitality that post-industrial cities need if they are to flourish.
In the past young innovators have flocked to old rundown areas, with lots of character and cheap rents. As they become developed, we will have to find ways of creating new development that works in the same way.
City leaders will have to get a lot more enterprising about protecting and nourishing late night culture — Paris has followed Amsterdam in appointing a night mayor. London is doing the same. Philanthropists and public funding bodies will need to work together to preserve local cultural centres and artists studios.
The best developers are beginning to understand the value they get from investing in the public realm but they will need to learn to see the value of other cultural assets. The most expensive cities will have to explore if and how to extend subsidised housing to creative workers.
Munira Mirza, London’s deputy mayor for the arts, puts its nicely. “Culture is to London what the sun is to Spain.” Not even the most powerful city leader can do much about the local weather. But our cities will have to learn how to keep culture shining.
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