Creative urban development - Sense of place and centre concentration in Porsgrunn, Norway

The objective of Porsgrunn’s planning project"creative urban development" has been to exploit culture as a driving force in the urban development. The project has provided temporary cultural events and a new salient cultural infrastructure in the town centre. Two factors were important for the launching of the project: the right timing (the town’s bicentennial) and extraordinary regional financial support. The project depended on solid institutional support and on mutual trust relationships between professionals and politicians and across public and private (commercial as well as cultural) players. The shift of focus on what urban development is all about, has been crucial, from "jobs and parking spots" to urban life and housing environments in vital urban centres.