The Experience Turn in Local Development and Planning

[i]Workshop [/i] 16th -17th September 2010 Aalborg University, Denmark [b]Abstract submission Deadline: June 15 2010 Paper submission Deadline: July 31 2010[/b] The experience economy represents a turn, not only in business strategies but also in local development strategies. Local politicians and planners increasingly focus on quality of place and quality of life as an aim in itself and as a tool for attracting citizens, tourists and businesses. Businesses, on the other hand, focus incresingly on non-material features of their products such as narratives and images which relate to the customers perception. It seems that no city or region can afford to stay unnoticed, and place branding is part of the play of the global competition between places. The focus of the network is the role of place, spatial narratives and identity in the leisure, culture and experience economy and planning, and the spatial development potentials of these economies in rural as well as urban contexts. The reseach network intends to coordinate, produce and disseminate front line research on the spatial dimensions of the emerging leisure, culture and experience economy. The network intends to research into the following issues: • Regions and cities in the experience economy • Trends in experience demand and consumption: Leisure, culture, places and events • Event making as a strategic tool in local development • The construction of experience regions, networks and narratives • Knowledge and innovation in the experience economy • Stakeholders of the experience economy and public private partnerships • Globalisation, mobility and the experience economy • Social and geographic layers of the experience economy • Place branding and authenticity • Typology of experience based urban strategies • Impact of the financial crisis on the experience economy • The experience economy in the industrial sector • The commodification of culture, leisure, experience and its impacts on the cultural and social dynamism of local communities For more information: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/research-networks/current/eess/sept10_cfp.pdf