Eduardo de la Fuente is an Adjunct in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, the University of Wollongong. His teaching and research cut across the themes of culture, economy, place and creativity. His forays into creativity and creativity-related subjects have taken place in a variety of institutional and disciplinary contexts, ranging from sociology, communications and media studies, and creative arts to an MBA program where he was in charge of a major on creativity and innovation that included, among other things, a subject on creative approaches to leadership. December 2019 will see the publication of his co-edited collection (with Ariella Van Luyn) of Regional Cultures, Economies and Creativity with Routledge.

PLACE MANAGEMENT FOR NONREPRESENTATIONALISTS

Using landscape theory to rethink creativity, economy and place

There is growing recognition in the social sciences that place and its qualities should be thought of as ‘an actor in cultural work’ (Luckman). However, getting mainstream academic thought, urban renewal consultants or cultural planners to take the qualities of place seriously has proven more difficult. This article outlines an emerging view within landscape theory that rather than seeing landscape as some inert or fixed object, sees it as a dynamic process or mode of ‘dwelling’ (Tim Ingold). Drawing on the case of the Blue Mountains region in NSW, the second part of the article attempts to flesh out what the nonrepresentational sensibility might mean for rethinking creativity, economy and place; and why such a perspective might be all the more important, in the case of landscapes where there is a history of relying on tourism and the ‘visual gaze’.

Keywords: creativity and place – landscape theory – the Blue Mountains – ‘nonrepresentational’ practices