Engaging creativity in industrial regions: Mapping vernacular cultural assets

This chapter explores the vernacular cultural assets ofWollongong,

a largely suburban industrial city located just to the south of

Sydney. Our interest here stems from our research for the wider

Cultural Asset Mapping in Regional Australia (CAMRA) project,

which asked the following key questions: outside of official

planning discourses, what kinds of cultural assets exist in a rapidly

changing and historically industrial region? What constitutes

creativity in such a context? And, as researchers, what kinds of

research practice are necessary to engage with marginalised social

groups and working-class communities as part of a cultural asset

mapping approach? In this chapter, we reflect on our research

experiences, and discuss the particularities of cultural and creative

practice in a working-class steel city that is undergoing transitions.

The story includes surfboards, punk music and custom-designed

cars, but also diverse suburban 'cool places' invisible to the creative

cities script.