Nurwati Badarulzaman

Factors Determining George Town as a City of Gastronomy

Abstract In line with UNESCOs Creative Cities flagship, cities around the world are strategising to be branded as creative locations to regenerate their urban places and spaces. Under this flagship, cities are branded according to the niche activities and attractions that best exemplify their locale to the world. Innovative and creative place-brand labels have emerged such as City of Fashion, City of Literature, City of Design and, as in the present case, City of Gastronomy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that determine and shape George Town, Penang as a creative “City of Gastronomy”. More specifically, the study explored the role of Nasi Kandar—a local George Town heritage gastronomic dish—in contributing to the citys successful branding. A standard survey questionnaire was distributed to 412 respondents in George Town to gather the perceptions of local and foreign tourists alike towards branding and harnessing the citys gastronomic competence. The findings from this study provide empirical evidence by ascertaining the perceived image and satisfaction levels of local and foreign tourists alike towards Nasi Kandar. The way George Town has acknowledged and leveraged Nasi Kandar as urban gastronomy can be emulated by other key cities in Malaysia (i.e. Ipoh, Bandar Melaka) or further afield.

Branding George Town world heritage site as city of gastronomy: prospects of creative cities strategy in Penang

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the prevalent trends of exploiting cultural capital such as gastronomic legacy to ignite redevelopment of contemporary cities as illustrated in the city of George Town, Penang, Malaysia. In the twenty-first century, cities are transforming to be creative cities as they compete globally on the basis of their respective city branding, image and identity, as well as cultural capital assets. The emerging importance of cultural capital complements the realms of politics, economics and built environment in creating sustainable urban structure and ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach – In line with UNESCO’s creative cities network flagship, this paper showcases George Town’s potentials in propagating its gastronomic appeals as a strategic urban asset to regenerate the urban economy. Findings – This paper postulates branding George Town World Heritage Site as a creative city under the theme of “City of Gastronomy” would successfully capture the city’s gastronomic prowess, im...

How possible is a creative city in Penang? An analysis of architects’ perceptions about creativity and quality of place

ABSTRACT The emergence of the creative cities/creative economies notion has re-visited the role of place and given this concept a new lease of life. Widely contested though, urban policy-makers in both developed and developing countries alike are planning and transforming their cities to become a Creative City. A Creative City harnesses on both its culture and economic prowess found in its urban locale as well as the creativity of the people who choose to live in them. This paper examines the possibility of the island-state of Penang to be a Creative City by looking specifically at the architecture industry, which is a sub-sector within the creative industry realm. The paper discusses the findings based on a survey and several interviews of 35 architectural firms in Penang. As suggested in the findings, Penang is still not ready in terms of talent, amenities and leadership to steer the city on its path to be a Creative City. More pertinently, this paper highlights the need to push and uplift the citys creativity level from currently ‘medium’ to a higher level to withstand global competition for talent and capital.

City development strategy: theoretical background, themes, and building blocks

ABSTRACT City development strategy (CDS) has transformed numerous cities in developing countries to cope with the unprecedented challenges of the twenty-first century. However, the CDS literature indicates that the needs, culture, and planning background of a city determine its CDS themes and methodologies. Drawing upon various CDS experiences, this paper provides an overview of the theory underpinning CDS, its themes, and building blocks to elucidate a more comprehensive understanding of CDS as it applies to real-world cities that have employed CDS and those who plan to do so in the future to confront their challenges and achieve their goals. This paper conducts a comprehensive systematic review, inclusive of journal articles and international CDS implementation literature as previously reported by international agencies and local governments. From this review, a number of recommendations have emerged for cities wishing to apply CDS. This paper makes a significant contribution to the CDS literature by clarifying the theoretical background, themes, and building blocks that are features of successful CDS implementation.