Cities are more than spaces. They are creative laboratories, living canvases, and cultural ecosystems shaped by the people who inhabit them.

I’ve been following Metalabel — a digital release platform founded by Kickstarter’s Yancey Strickler. The platform rallies around A New Creative Era, championing collective creativity over individualism, fostering collaborative movements that shape the future of art, media, and community-driven innovation. What does it mean for IRL creativity, travel and the future of cities? - MH

In the New Creative Era, the relationship between travel and placemaking is evolving.

Tourism is no longer about passive consumption—it’s about participation, collaboration, and co-creation. Visitors are not just spectators; they are cultural contributors, engaging with cities in ways that add to their energy rather than extract from them.

From Tokyo’s neon-lit creative hubs to Mexico City’s artist-led residencies, the most vibrant destinations today are those that embrace experience-led placemaking—where the intersection of art, technology, and urbanism turns spaces into stories.

The Shift: From Attraction to Activation

The old tourism model was transactional: see the sights, take the pictures, and leave. The new model is transformational—rooted in participation, cultural exchange, and immersive experiences.

Creative Residencies in Cities → More travelers are opting for artist residencies, digital nomad programs, and skill-sharing retreats, where they don’t just observe but actively contribute to a place’s creative fabric.
Adaptive Reuse as Experience → The world’s most exciting destinations are revitalizing industrial spaces into creative districts, like Lisbon’s LX Factory, Montreal’s Mile-Ex, and Berlin’s Urbane Mitte—where studios, music venues, and co-working spaces fuse into a single ecosystem.
Civic Engagement Through Travel → Initiatives like the Vibe Index Residency (hypothetical, but needed) could place cultural strategists, artists, and researchers in cities to map their creative pulse—helping destinations understand their creative economy through real-time participation.

This shift is creating a new tourism economy—one that doesn’t just invite people to a place but invites them to co-create the future of that place.

Placemaking as a Creative Catalyst

Placemaking has evolved from a design strategy into a cultural movement—where cities actively shape their identity through creative interventions. Some of the most dynamic cities are investing in:

Cultural Infrastructure: Not just museums, but living hubs—like New Lab in Brooklyn, which reimagines a shipyard into a cutting-edge innovation district.
Music-Led Urbanism: Places like Austin, Nashville, and Mexico City are embedding live music venues into urban planning, ensuring that creative spaces remain protected from gentrification.
Street-Level Creators: Murals, digital art installations, and pop-up performances are reclaiming public space—think Wynwood Walls (Miami), Nuit Blanche (Paris), or Meow Wolf (Denver)—turning cities into evolving, interactive experiences.

In the new creative era, destinations will no longer compete based on attractions alone, but on energy, collaboration, and cultural exchange.

Newlab is home to more than 250 deep tech startups and over 1,000 entrepreneurs, inventors, investors, and optimists working together to address critical challenges in energy, mobility, and materials.

The Future: Cities as Creative Networks

A global movement is emerging, where cities aren’t just individual entities—they are interconnected hubs of creative expression.

Imagine a network of creative tourism initiatives:

A “Creative Passport” that allows travelers to engage with residencies, art labs, and co-creation spaces across different cities.
An Experience Stack where urban activations—music festivals, film incubators, esports tournaments—flow seamlessly across global destinations, offering a cultural circuit rather than a singular event.
Hybrid Digital-Physical Tourism where immersive XR experiences allow travelers to engage with local creators before they even arrive—setting the stage for deeper, more meaningful interactions.

The future of travel will be measured not by how many people visit a place, but by how much impact they leave behind.

Travel as a Force for Creative Urbanism

For destination strategists, city planners, and cultural leaders, this is an opportunity to rethink the role of tourism in urban development.

The most forward-thinking cities will:

Prioritize local creators in tourism strategy. Give entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and technologists a seat at the table.
Treat visitors as contributors, not consumers. Create more opportunities for participation—skill-sharing events, collaborative exhibitions, and co-creation labs.
Build new funding models for cultural placemaking. Tourism revenue should reinvest into the creative sector, ensuring long-term sustainability.

The new creative era isn’t just about where we travel. It’s about how we engage, contribute, and build connections that extend far beyond a single trip.

Are we ready to co-create the future of cities?

Part II. Who cares?

The intersection of creative placemaking and tourism isn’t just a trend—it’s a structural shift in how cities attract, engage, and retain visitors. This shift impacts multiple industries, audience segments, and forward-thinking destinations that want to stay relevant in the global creative economy.

1. Companies That Benefit from the New Creative Era

Tech, Media & Experience-Driven Companies

Meta, Niantic, and AR/VR Experience Companies: Cities investing in hybrid tourism (physical + digital) will be attractive partners for immersive storytelling, location-based gaming, and spatial computing experiences.
Airbnb, Sonder, Selina: These companies are redefining the hospitality experience for cultural travelers and remote creatives, creating destination-based communities.
Live Nation, Superfly, Broadwick Live: Event organizers who design experience-led urban activations (festivals, pop-ups, esports, and music-driven tourism) will be drawn to cities that invest in dynamic creative spaces.
WeTransfer, Adobe, Patreon: Platforms that support independent creators will benefit from cities that nurture local creative economies by funding studios, artist residencies, and co-creation hubs. (Yes, and Metalabel).

Cultural and Economic Development Groups

UNESCO Creative Cities, Time Out Market, Creative Tourism Network: Cities that embrace creative tourism are shaping the future of destination identity and urban regeneration.
Local DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations): Traditional tourism boards must pivot from “heads in beds” metrics to creative economy impact models, fostering long-term cultural sustainability.

Urban Development & Real Estate

Adaptive reuse developers (Tishman Speyer, Related, Jamestown): Investing in cities that actively transform underused spaces into cultural hubs, incubators, and live-work-play districts.
Innovation Districts & Smart Cities (URBAN-X, Sidewalk Labs, The Ion, New Lab): Cities that cultivate a strong creative economy become hubs for creative technologists, digital nomads, and startup ecosystems.

2. Traveler Segments Driving the Shift

Creative Professionals & Digital Nomads

Designers, musicians, writers, and content creators are looking for cities that serve as live/work/play incubators.
Cities with artist residencies, co-creation spaces, and pop-up cultural events will attract high-value, long-stay visitors.

Experience-Driven Travelers

Millennials & Gen Z prefer hands-on, participatory, and co-creative tourism rather than passive sightseeing.
Growth in workation, playcation, and immersive learning travel (e.g., residencies, creator retreats, and skill-sharing experiences).

Cultural Enthusiasts & Niche Enthusiast Communities

Music, film, skateboarding, esports, and digital art fans travel for subcultural experiences. Cities investing in niche creative hubs will attract year-round tourism, not just seasonal visitors.

Eco-Conscious and Regenerative Travelers

Interest in cities that align with sustainability, cultural preservation, and impact travel (e.g., regenerative tourism projects, local artist collaborations, and hybrid cultural programming).

3. Why Should Cities Care?

Cities Need New Economic Models Beyond Traditional Tourism

Relying on conventions, sporting events, and heritage tourism alone is outdated.
The creative economy is now a $2.25 trillion global industry, outpacing traditional travel revenue.

Cities That Don’t Invest in Creativity Lose Global Relevance

Destinations that nurture creative talent will attract investment, entrepreneurs, and cultural visitors.
UNESCO Creative Cities and cities that build cultural IP (festivals, film scenes, music clusters) become long-term global destinations.

A City’s Creative Energy Determines Its Future

Cities that ignore their cultural identity and creative infrastructure risk becoming soulless, commoditized destinations. Vibe drives choice.

Example: Compare Detroit’s creative resurgence (tech, arts, and food scene) to a city losing its independent venues to real estate speculation.

4. Which Cities Should Care?

Cities with Emerging or Growing Creative Scenes

Detroit, Atlanta, Montreal, Austin, Mexico City: Cities that already have strong cultural identities but need better tourism integration.
New Orleans, Nashville, Toronto, Portland: Destinations with a history of music, arts, and food but struggling with gentrification and affordability.
Houston, Denver, Charlotte, Phoenix: Mid-tier cities investing in placemaking and innovation districts.

Cities Looking to Differentiate Themselves

Dubai, Singapore, Seoul — Positioned as global innovation hubs, now doubling down on cultural placemaking.
Lisbon, Amsterdam, Berlin — Balancing tourism with local authenticity, experimenting with cultural residency programs.
Bali, Medellín, Mexico City — Global nomad hotspots that need better urban planning to sustain long-term cultural tourism.

Next Steps for Cities

Fund Cultural Infrastructure: Invest in public art, adaptive reuse, and creator residencies.
Develop Data-Driven Creative Tourism Strategies: Use Vibe Index models to measure creative impact.
Attract Experience Economy Investment: Partner with music, film, and esports industries for citywide activations.
Empower Local Creators in Tourism Decision-Making: Shift from visitor economy control to cultural community empowerment.

Creative cities will define the next decade of tourism. The question is: which cities will lead, and which will be left behind?

A New Creative Era: How Travel and Placemaking Shape the Future of Cities