Transcriber: Julia Simões Reviewer: David DeRuwe
Cities have long been synonymous with creativity,
and usually the bigger the better.
It’s where the jobs are, where the interesting people are.
They’re packed with culture and money,
and it’s here in cities
that creativity thrives and new trends emerge.
For my work as a trend forecaster,
being based in a big city - in my case, London - has always been beneficial.
My job is to spot shifts in culture before they become mainstream
and back in 2015, I saw a trend emerging
that would become the focus of my work and my first book:
a phenomenon I called “city quitters,”
the idea of creatives moving away from urban areas to the countryside.
Six years ago, this was still quite a radical move.
Cities, as was the accepted cultural norm, were the epicenters of creative life,
promising progress and professional success.
Yes, people had moved out of the city before,
but it was mainly to retire
or to bring up their kids in a house with a bigger garden.
What was new was that these were creative professionals -
architects, designers, photographers - all at the peak of their career.
At the time, swapping city life for the countryside
was pretty much unheard of in those creative circles.
Fast forward to 2021, and we’re in the midst
of a creative exodus from major cities around the world.
Of course, the shift has been massively accelerated by the pandemic.
We’ve seen a huge push in acceptance of remote working.
However, the desire for an alternative life away from urban constraints
was bubbling away well before the pandemic hit.
People that make up the cultural scenes of our cities have struggled
with tough living conditions for a while.
High rents and relentless competition for fewer and fewer jobs
make it hard to simply exist, let alone thrive creatively.
Growing commercialisation is crushing any kind of experimental spirit
that makes it so exciting in the first place.
As a result, many urban centres today feel more like a playground for the rich
and less like the creative capitals of the world.
I want to share three themes with you that illustrate the potential
of the countryside as a place for sustainable creative practice,
and they all have to do with connection:
connection to nature, connection to people and connection to self.
Let’s start with the most obvious one: connection to nature,
In cities, our sense of environmental attachment is huge.
Many people living in urban areas today are unable to name even one bird or tree.
You have little idea where food comes from.
And with climate collapse, no friend of mine,
the need to rekindle our bond with nature is urgent.
Visits to a local park are no longer enough.
We’re looking for something deeper, something wilder,
and especially for creatives, nature can become a huge source of inspiration.
This is nothing new, of course.
Artists have always been drawn to the countryside,
but we have never lived in a moment in time where we needed it more,
where the separation has been greater.
Nature can also give pace to creative work:
Seasons start to play a role.
People tune in to natural cycles,
observing the change of light over the course of the day.
We might even notice a change of energy during the lunar cycle
or adjust our work hours to daylight in season.
This architect and sculptor
who relocated from London to a small village in northern Italy
chops wood for his sculptures only during a particular phase of the Moon.
This is based on ancient knowledge passed on to him by the elderly locals.
These two, a cartoonist and photographer in rural China,
have to look after their garden in the summer months,
and their creative work takes a backseat.
In winter, the garden needs less attention
and there’s more time to dive into design projects.
In cities, being aware of natural cycles is really hard.
People tend to work the same and generally too much,
no matter what external conditions.
But with so many young, creative professionals
suffering from burnout and exhaustion,
connection to nature could provide a powerful remedy.
Second, connection to people.
One of the biggest fears that people have
about moving to the countryside is that they feel isolated,
especially creatives worry that they won’t find
the same progressive and open-minded community
that they have access to in the city.
Yes, cities have more diverse populations than rural areas,
but they also allow us to only mingle with people who are just like us
without ever being challenged.
Moving to a smaller place forces us to interact
with people with different political views, life experiences, and values.
It might not always be easy,
but it certainly helps to broaden our perspective.
In my research, people describe this act of getting out of their bubble
as a very refreshing experience, benefiting both sides in unexpected ways.
In my view, it’s terribly important to engage with people who are different
from us if we want to live in a less polarised world.
Moving to a smaller place also helps to combat loneliness,
a problem that ironically is especially prevalent
in the most populated areas of the world.
The scale of the village is much more conducive to human connection.
It makes participation easier.
People can share ideas and contribute to the community in a more tangible way.
And this creates a sense of agency and life satisfaction
that is often lacking in dense urban areas.
In terms of creative work, there is more time and space for collaboration.
(Applause)
Thank you.
In big cities, people tend to be too busy to commit
to more experimental work or help out with someone else’s project.
Here's an example from Hudson in upstate New York,
where a huge community effort enabled two artists implement their dream
of opening a restaurant that doubles as a performance space.
By trading meals for hands-on help,
they built an exciting new place that is open to all.
Thirdly, connections itself,
an aspect that is absolutely essential
for anyone whose work involves coming up with new ideas.
In order to express ourselves freely and authentically,
we need to know ourselves.
Unfortunately, our modern urban lifestyles
are doing anything but connecting us to ourselves.
In fact, they do quite the opposite.
We have normalized a constant state of stress, anxiety, and distraction.
We are often unable to focus as a result.
We are bombarded with stuff and enticed to consume all the time.
Of course, part of the distraction is online,
and social media exists in the countryside too.
But when we geographically remove ourselves from the city,
we tend to be a little less concerned
with what others are thinking about us and our work.
The people I spoke to often found
an improvement of headspace, focus, and more time to think deeply,
and this sense of freedom allows them to truly experiment,
to explore fresh ideas and to discover their own aesthetic away from the noise.
Whether that means testing your ideas within a new environment
or deeply connecting to the history of a place
by working with local artisans like this example from Sardinia,
imagination can flourish.
So will global cities continue to see
a mass exodus of creativity to the countryside?
What’s for sure is that the scenes and the cultural hot spots
will become more decentralized and spread out.
As artists and creatives discover the periphery
as an aspirational place to work and live.
It will grow more attractive to the wider population as well.
What is crucial for the shift to become a sustainable movement
is collaboration between the old and the new guard.
Prospective city quitters must approach the move by asking:
‘What can I bring to this area and this community?’
rather than ‘What can this place give me?’
Areas that suffer from population decline
could be rejuvenated by an influx of younger residents,
stimulated by this new coexistence of tradition and innovation.
Reverse migration of people who honed their professional skills in the cities
could create new jobs and economic prosperity.
The potential is huge,
and by their very nature, artists and creators
are in a unique position to imagine alternative ways
of breathing life into declining areas.
They have the tools and the vision
to manifest new ideas that others would simply deem impossible.
As rural newcomers looking at things with fresh eyes,
they might be better able to see opportunities
where others could see limitations.
I firmly believe that the countryside can become a place
where progressive culture emerges and diverse communities thrive.
Thank you.
(Applause)