Carol Coletta

Carol Coletta is president and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City.  She previously served as president of Coletta & Company in Memphis.  In addition, Carol served as executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and American Architectural Foundation.

A Knight Fellow in Community Building for 2003 at the University of Miami School of Architecture, Carol is currently a candidate for a Master of Design Methods at the Institute of Design at IIT.  She is frequently interviewed as an expert on urban issues by national media and is an active speaker on the success formula for cities and creative communities.  This year Carol was named one of the world’s 50 most important urban experts by a leading European think tank.

Contact Information
Carol Coletta
ccoletta@ceosforcities.org
312-553-4630

Monday

August 11, 2008

What would 8,500 people in 14 major cities on five continents say about the places they live?  That’s what French-based Veolia Environnement set out to learn when they commissioned a first-of-its-kind survey that was released July 29.

Here’s what they learned:

People value cities for the things that often get overlooked—the convenience of city living, the ability to enjoy sporting and cultural activities, the cultural dynamism of cities, and the possibilities for going out and having fun.  Americans, especially, like the diversity of people found in cities.

But people dislike traffic jams, pollution, noise, dirtiness, and poor management of public services.  They also complained about crowds, lack of safety, public transportation problems, stress and anonymity.

Some of these drawbacks, of course, are just part of city life.  It’s hard to have cultural dynamism without crowds.  And with crowds come some inconvenience.  Plus, when asked what I dislike about my city, I’m going to find something to complain about.

But this survey is valuable to urban policymakers everywhere as they make tough choices about where and how to invest in their community’s success.

More from the survey tomorrow.

Tuesday

August 12, 2008

Guess where the most satisfied people in all the world’s major cities live? 

Would you believe Midwest, USA?

Chicago, to be specific.

It turns out that, according to the world survey of 14 major cities commissioned by Veolia Environnement, Chicagoans are not only the most satisfied people in the world, they are also confident and optimistic about the city’s future, and deeply proud of their city.

There are likely many reasons for their feelings.  Obviously, leadership matters, and Mayor Richard Daley has done an enviable job of working simultaneously on the big deals and small wonders.  Chicago also, as Mayor Daley admits, has been the beneficiary of the “Big Sort” that is taking place in the Midwest as described by Bill Bishop in his recent book.

But I think there is something else happening that generally goes unrecognized and undervalued, and that is the way Chicago treats art, culture, and special events.  The city of big shoulders that was once hog butcher to the world approaches culture with a European outlook.  It is free, and it is everywhere.  It is easy to stumble onto.  One does not have to search for it.

Culture is treated not as a “frill” but as oxygen—quite necessary to life itself.

Culture (defined in the broadest terms) and sport become ways to be in the company of strangers, which is essential to offsetting the isolation and anonymity that sometimes accompanies city life, especially for newcomers.  They are also paths to belonging to something bigger than oneself.

Smart urban leaders will make cultural investments, even in tough times.  In fact, that may be when we need them most.

Wednesday

August 13, 2008

If you haven’t read The Big Sort by Bill Bishop, I urge you to do so.  It’s not particularly optimistic, nor does it offer up a simple prescription for urban leaders to follow.  But it’s true.  It’s based on solid research done by people who root for all of America, including rural communities and suburbs.  They conclude that we are sorting ourselves by lifestyles and beliefs at an ever-accelerating pace, and that has implications for everything—what people value, their voting patterns, the public “rules” they want to live by.

See Bill’s interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show by clicking here.

Thursday

August 14, 2008

By recognizing that creativity exists in everyone, the opportunity for cities to succeed significantly expands.

As San Jose Chief Development Officer Paul Krutko summarizes it, two popular paradigms dominate the discussion on city development.  The first is Tom Friedman’s ‘race-to-the-bottom’, flat worldview.  The other is Richard Florida’s spiky world in which there are a few winning cities and a lot of losers.

But perhaps there is a third way emerging where a city’s success depends on the ability to tap or unleash the creative potential that exists in its people, connections and assets.

It is this third way that offers the opportunity for success to far more cities.

The challenge is: how? How can you ‘unlock the potential’ for creativity and innovation in cities?

And, what are the conditions that will enable a climate or environment in which people can contribute and creativity and innovation can flourish?

CEOs for Cities is exploring these questions in its member cities.  We are currently collecting examples worldwide of methods being used to unlock creative potential.  We are also discovering the role difference (another word for diversity) plays in innovation.  (It is a surprisingly powerful contributor.)

If you would like to be part of this conversation, email Rebecca Eggleston at reggleston@ceosforcities.org.

Friday

August 15, 2008

What is your point of view on how your city will succeed economically?  Do you have a theory of success?  Is it stated or unstated?  And are your decisions consistent with your beliefs about what it will take to succeed?

There has always been a little (a lot of?) mystery associated with economic development.  CEOs for Cities is working to remove at least some of the uncertainty with its forthcoming publication of “City Success: Theories of Urban Prosperity.”

For the first time, urban policymakers will find an easy-to-follow description of all the theories at work today in urban economic development.  They are organized by firms, people, and place.  The 18 paths to success are accompanied by recommendations on how to use them, and they also come with a matrix of which areas cities must possess strengths to successfully pursue various paths.

The publication is scheduled for release in late August but can be pre-ordered.