Creative Placemaking in the Scottish Rurality: Comparing Two Small Towns

This chapter explores two cases of small towns as creative places in the Galloway and Borders regions of Scotland. It considers and compares their cultural development, economic contributions, resilience and sustainability. The chapter uses prior works on policy, theory, and creative rural economies as conceptual framing.

The study is an empirical exploration, which used cultural observation as an interpretive method to undertake desk and field research in the two towns presented as cases, Wigtown (Scotland’s national Book Town) and Coldstream. It offers findings under headings of the effects of the COVID pandemic on the creative sector; cultural identity branding; the roles of anchor attractions and events; policy; digital economy; and cultural inclusion or exclusion. The conclusion is that creative placemaking is a medium-to-long term activity involving community and joint entrepreneurship between stakeholders to demonstrate sustainability and resilience. However, creative places need to be or become distinctive in some respects for the ingredients and enabling factors of placemaking to combine and sustain effectively as a destination.