In his influential book – The Rise of the Creative Class: and how it ’s transforming work, leisure, community & everyday life - Richard Florida compares US cities that invest in creative industries, ‘creative classes’, to those that do not. He finds that metropolitan areas with a high proportion of creative people, as well as ethically diverse and gay populations, have stronger and more dynamic economies and are likely to be cities that people want to visit. The Cit y of Sydney has caught onto this trend and has launched a new vision for Sydney’s urban centre. Sustainable Sydney 2030 aims to make the city greener, more accessible and alive with cultural hubs in its inner suburbs. Perhaps taking a cue from Melbourne, who was onto the value of hip-inner-city-life some time ago, Sydney looks set to t ransform itself. Oxford St, already a cultural strip- with the College of Fine Arts (COFA), the National Art School, cinemas, fashion houses and galleries on or near it - is marked to become a major cultural precinct. Part of this will be a new Art, Design and Media Museum built on the corner of Oxford St and Greens Rd. The new museum will broaden the scope of Sydney- living for ar t ists and non-artists alike by hosting film festivals, international design shows , animat ion screenings, as well as t radi t ional fine arts exhibitions. This first issue of Incubate explores the growing impact of the ar ts on Australian society. It also hopes to help harness the creative energy housed in public artsvenues surrounding Sydney ’s CBD. Del Kathr yn Bar ton, this year ’s winner of the Archibald Prize, talks about the jump in the perceived value of her work and the importance of family on page 8. Major figure in the Sydney art scene, Nick Waterlow OAM, revisi ts the themes of the four Biennales of Sydney that hecurated and examines anew the value of an Australian-European dialogue on page 12. The popularity of new magazine, Art World, which in its first issue sold out in many Sydney outlets, is discussed on page 34. The magazine also profiles Emmy award winning animator, William Burdis, who is currently sharing his skills and industry insights by lectur ing at COFA; emerging Melbourne-based performance artist Owen Leong, whose latest work on the body and racial stereot ypes screened at the Shanghai Zendai Museum; and well-known Sydney artist , Michael Esson, who is running specialised drawing workshops for plastic surgeons. Incubate also showcases events on at the seven major public ar ts venues walkable distance from Sydney’s CBD, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Ivan Dougherty Gallery (at COFA), Object Gallery, the National Art School Gallery, the Powerhouse Museum, the Australian Centre for Photography, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Bundled together under the title 3K Radius, the magazine aims to encourage people to make the most of a good-weather weekend and get out and see more of the goings on about town. I hope you enjoy this first issue of Incubate and would welcome comments and feedback.