Research: Penang Living Lab for Advancing the Creative Economy (PLLACE) project

Research summary

The Penang Living Lab for Advancing the Creative Economy project (PLLACE) aims to address a knowledge gap around innovation in heritage cities.

The creative industries in the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site, Malaysia, have experienced significant growth, contributing to cultural vibrancy and economic development. However, they now face challenges including skill deficiencies among creative workers and entrepreneurs, and the under-tapped potential of heritage-embedded innovations.

Through collaboration with stakeholders, this interdisciplinary project will support the further success and growth of Penang’s creative sector. It aims to: 

• identify skill deficiencies among creative sector entrepreneurs in Malaysia
• develop and provide targeted training programmes to address skills gaps 
• study successful heritage-embedded innovation and the entrepreneurs’ journey to understand their motivations, challenges, resources, and capabilities
• provide opportunities for creative entrepreneurs in the heritage industry to co-create products and services with their customers and test their market using a Living Lab approach

Researchers will produce a briefing on vital aspects of the creative industries policy framework and scenarios, specifically tailored to the sector’s needs in Penang. Its recommendations will support and promote innovation, growth and success in creative businesses.

The project team will create a blueprint for creative economy policy for heritage cities.

PLLACE is a partnership of researchers from the social sciences and humanities at the Manchester Met, University of Greenwich, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The Living Lab approach

Living Labs act as catalysts for innovation by fostering diverse perspectives and facilitating the co-creation of user-centric solutions.

They enable testing of technologies, products, services and systems in real-world settings that closely mirror their intended environments, ensuring contextually relevant innovations.

The insights gained from Living Labs can significantly inform policy development and local, regional, and national decision-making. 

By providing valuable information on user needs, market readiness, and potential societal impacts before large-scale deployment, Living Labs bridge the gap between conceptual design and practical implementation.  

PLLACE aims to harness this approach to establish a collaborative ecosystem in Malaysia’s creative sector. 

Entrepreneurs, organisations and citizens will actively co-create products, services, systems and solutions. This participatory model not only ensures the relevance and adoptability of innovations but also informs the development of a tailored policy framework.   

The Living Lab approach is particularly significant as the application of this approach in Asia remains under-explored, presenting a unique opportunity to uncover fresh insights.

Investigating the use of Living Labs in the creative industries may yield innovative approaches that differ from more commonly studied sectors.

This intersection of geographic and industry-specific factors promises to contribute valuable new knowledge to Living Labs research and practice.