Urban policy and securing talent toward realizing an international creative environment: Glass City Toyama, Japan

To realize a sustainable creative environment that utilizes local cultural resources, it is necessary to secure infrastructure and talent while promoting the arts and related industries. This study examines the formation of a creative environment that was established through networks between glass art institutions (i.e., a vocational school, studio, and museum) and artists and designers (students, graduates, and instructors) in Toyama City, Japan. The "Glass City Toyama" initiative was launched to produce new cultural resources and foster the art industry with the aim of enhancing urban vitality and enriching the lives of local citizens, who make up a shrinking and aging population. This study focuses on securing and training creative and professional talent in a new production system aimed at realizing a glass art cluster in an eco-model city in a super-aging society.