At a seminar on public cultural projects, an official asked students in the audience, “Our city has no forests, no minerals, no industry, no agriculture. What kind of economic future will our youth have?”

Among the few hundred students, no one wanted to say the answer that was in the official’s mind, but some people softly murmured, “Money.”

There are few cities in the world that can boastfully joke in that way. But do we really want to see our cities so impoverished that all that’s left is money? Is it really so implausible to use culture to kickstart development in a city?

Using culture to develop cities is not new. Cultural industries in Europe developed in old industrial towns to breathe new economic life into these places. Bilbao in Spain is one classic example. The completion of the Guggenheim Museum and progressive urban planning helped turn the industrial backwater into an important tourist spot on the continent. Even in newly-wealthy cities, cultural industries are important. Abu Dhabi, for example, has built the Saadiyat Cultural District, a large area encompassing the Louvre, Guggenheim and other top international arts institutions that could be the world’s pre-eminent cultural centre in the future. Most importantly, however, is the message the project sends the world — that Abu Dhabi has more than just oil.

Macao has also similarly started to push cultural development since 2010 in order to diversify its economy. The difference with Abu Dhabi, however, is that Macao already houses a great deal of culture, including a UNESCO World Heritage Site and four centuries of east-west interaction. So why can’t Macao make its cultural mark on the global stage? Unlike the aforementioned cities, what Macao lacks is a landmark cultural project that can galvanise the entire city and stir international attention. It’s something that becomes deeply ingrained in people’s minds, or “iconic communication,” as urban planner Charles Landry calls it. A city needs to find that icon in order to make itself stand out among cities in the world. But such projects are usually expensive and controversial. In Bilbao, deputy mayor Ibon Areso faced serious opposition from the public against the Guggenheim project. But without his wisdom and courage, Bilbao would not have spawned the so-called Guggenheim Effect, and would not have encouraged corporations to invest huge sums of money in urban planning afterwards. It was a highly risky investment, and one that seriously tested the foresight and management of urban planners.

In fact, Macao doesn’t lack cultural managers with vision. A decade ago, Macao successfully applied to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a very important cultural project that placed Macao firmly on the world map. Today, we need to revitalise Macao’s cultural image. But what it is? Perhaps it’s new cultural projects that have yet to be rolled out, or it is the annual Parade Through Macao,Latin City that has been going on for years. Or maybe it’s the proposed Macao Biennale, inspired by Venice. Our cultural planning blueprints are ready. The next stage is to convince the public that culture can change a city.