The Good City
Sado Jirde, Björn Bleumink, Prof Palie Smart, Pete Gladwell and Pippa Goldfinger at Design West’s The Good City event
Last week, I attended a talk curated by Design West called ‘The Good City’ – a conversation about what makes a city not just functional but actually good. The kind of place where people want to make a life, spend time, grow old. A place where people, communities, and ideas can blossom.
Cities, after all, are where most of us live. They’re places where things feel buzzy and exciting, but they also shoulder inequality, pollution, and housing crises. They are both the problem and the solution. This event explored how cities might step up to become global leaders in urban design, housing, climate resilience, and social innovation. Bristol was very much in the frame. How can this city shape a better future for itself and others?
As I listened, I kept thinking about the role of artists, and how they can play a role in shaping a ‘Good City.’ Cities aren’t just about buildings, transport, and investment strategies, they’re about people and how they experience and shape their environments. Art and culture make our lives worth living, creating a city that’s a space of possibility, resistance, and transformation.
At Confluence, we’ve been thinking a lot about how Bristol is changing. Artists are often among the first to feel the shifts, whether through the closing of cultural spaces, the cost of living squeezing creativity out, or how communities come together to reclaim, reimagine, and resist. Art doesn’t just document these changes; it actively reshapes the city, offering alternative visions for what it could be.
What would it mean for artists to be at the centre of conversations about The Good City? Not just as contributors to a cultural sector that boosts economic growth but as people whose work reveals hidden layers of the city, who hold space for different voices, and who create new ways of thinking about urban life.
This blog is designed to be a bit of a sketchbook. A place for thoughts and ideas as they emerge. So, I’ll leave this here as one: How do artists make a Good City?
– Matthew Austin