The creative city: An innovative digital leadership program for city decision makers

Abstract

As cities have become more advanced through the emergence of new technologies and Smart Cities solutions, there is a greater necessity to unlock the true potential of cities based not only on the technological dimensions, but on a more holistic approach incorporating strategies embodying design thinking, resource optimization, system integration and stakeholder engagement, enhanced via new technologies, fundamental to harnessing the creative potential of cities. This paper seeks to outline and define the key theoretical concepts and methodology of the Creative City Digital Leadership Program, a joint initiative between Tsinghua University’s Service Design Institute, Henley Business School’s Informatics Lab and Parsons Institute for Information Mapping established to provide a new digital platform for training city leaders and managers seeking alternative approaches.