“You would love Melbourne,” many friends told me. And it was true. I went there and I fell in love with the city.

Melbourne has been recognised as the most livable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit for seven consecutive years. Besides that, Melbourne is also seen as a city of coffee, a garden city, a city of sports, the cultural hub of Australia, and the fashion capital in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also a City of Literature recognised by the UNESCO.

Melbourne is the cradle of Australia’s publishing industry. But unlike other Cities of Literature that are famous for literature giants, Melbourne’s literature robustness comes from its prosperous literature community. Readings, an independent bookstore in Melbourne for example, was awarded the title International Book Store of the Year at London Book Fair. The independent bookstore also publishes Monthly, a monthly issue that covers book review, exclusive interview with writers, and news in the literature world. 10% of the income from the monthly publication would go into the Readings Foundation, which provides supporting services for the community, art education development and literacy programmes. Melbourne’s literature community is similar to aquaponics, an ecosystem that was established by its thriving independent bookstore culture, literature festivals, writers, book agents, and publishing companies. For instance, The Wheeler Centre founded by Lonely Planet’s founder, the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Small Press Network are all headquartered in Melbourne.

Besides the mature ecosystem, Melbourne’s literature scene also thrives because of the city’s great support for nurturing emerging writers. For a young city that is less than 200 years old, its perspectives on literature and the publishing industry are forward-looking and smart. The literature community in Melbourne organises events that aim to nurture young writers, such as the Emerging Writers’ Festival and Express Media. Independent bookstore Readings also established the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the Readings Children’s Book Prize in 2014 in an attempt to promote local emerging literary talents. It is apparent that a city’s cultural strength is not only reliant on top-down planning but also dependent on the entrepreneurial spirit of the grassroots.

State Library Victoria

Literature is essentially about the people’s stories. In Melbourne, literature is life philosophy. If you are a hipster in Melbourne, you are probably going to have a laidback lifestyle. You will sleep all you want during weekends. After waking up, you will have a delicate brunch with your friends. Then you will walk through some strange alleyways and have a cup of long black or flat white in a café. In the afternoon, you will take your dog out for a walk and have a picnic at Royal Botanic Gardens. Or, you might end up visiting the National Gallery of Victoria to see the exhibitions. You might also go watch a movie at an outdoor cinema after having a good dinner at a decent restaurant. Then you might be drinking a glass of Pinot noir or Chardonnay from Yarra Valley. As for literature lovers, you can find them in the State Library Victoria in downtown Melbourne, a top ten library in the world. The library is a good place to read and see free exhibitions. When I was visiting that library, there was an exhibition on book design and Australian calligram movement. This amazing library is a natural attraction for many. Visitors can also play chess at the magnificent octagonal Domed Reading Room.

Culture shouldn’t be downplayed like using perfume to temporarily cover body odour. Culture is developed through years of accumulation. The city planners alone are not able to provide a pool of diverse cultural events and lifestyles for the residents. Instead, what they can do is to embed culture and art into the city’s genes. It is true that the right to life is a basic human right. Residents of Melbourne pursue a good life instead of moments of happiness.

“You are able to appreciate beauty only when you are living a decent life,” Chinese writer Jiang Xun wrote. Melbourne has been focusing on improving its residents’ life quality and providing a well-rounded education for the general public. The city does not invest a large amount of money in major international events that do not cater to the ordinary people living in the city. This is how Melbourne had transformed itself into a cultural city from a commercial city. We can learn from Melbourne that it is not the population density, water quality, air quality or other external factors that dictate whether a city is livable or not. Increasing cultural participation is not just about asking the residents to volunteer at local museums or sending art festival tickets to residents for free. The key here is to integrate art and culture into people’s life. It is making people willing to buy local writers’ works at independent bookstores and talk about creative ideas in cafés. In order to boost cultural participation in the city, it is very important to build up an ecosystem that is sustainable.

Melbourne has a motto: we gather strength as we go (Latin: Vires Acquirit Eundo). The motto comes from the Latin epic poem Aeneid written by Virgil. It can be interpreted as “the farther it spreads the more powerful it becomes.” Culture’s power lies in its ability to spread, thrive and prosper. If culture cannot be integrated into people’s everyday life, it is meaningless to hold international cultural events that can only bring temporary hypes.