TULSA, OKLAHOMA – I created a report back sheding light on Tulsa’s potential to become the creative placemaking capital of the world back in 2021. The study, conducted by author and placemaking expert Nick Brown, outlines a data-driven and culturally focused strategy to transform Downtown Tulsa into a hub of creativity and innovation.
To achieve this goal, I identified new and untapped opportunities by analyzing data from commercial real estate sources, Tulsa’s annual reports, and conducting interviews with influential cross-industry millennials and new-Tulsan professionals within a two-week exploration in Tulsa. The findings point to a lack of cross-industry infrastructure for millennials and a limited amount of people with the creative abilities to execute or access resources on a city-wide scale to execute cool creative experiences.
The report recommends building infrastructure around cool opportunities to shock the world and create a cultural web of the city while being connected to a global context. Specifically, I advocate for the activation of underutilized properties and spaces through experiential and unusual pop-ups throughout the year. By transforming these properties’ interior, exterior, digital, augmented, and virtual elements, they can generate significant digital and physical demand and create a new market for property owners and local talent.
To make Tulsa the creative placemaking capital of the world, I propose Operation Octopus, a four-part strategy that involves expanding into untapped opportunities and building a movement through creative programming and marketing. This approach includes creating cross-industry programming for millennials, forming a city-wide property alliance for creative placemaking, tracking cultural impact through location-based data capture, and partnering with city facilitators and out-of-town facilitators to attract experimental brand integration to Tulsa.
With a long-tail approach, this could lead to niche markets in Tulsa and other cities while providing a playground for brands to generate more activity in Tulsa. The goal is to make Tulsa an experimental hub of creativity, culture, and innovation that can be applied to the city’s growing industries with a creative flair.
As Tulsa continues to grow, I see great potential in leveraging the city’s creative assets and attracting new businesses and talent to the area. If successful, Tulsa could become a model for other cities looking to transform their urban landscapes through creativity and innovation.
Contact me about my study.