Finding Your Good Place: An Interview With Robin Cox
I’ve discovered Robin a few years ago when I stumbled upon A City Made by People, one of his projects. I loved the cool initiatives they had and loved reading the stories their correspondents from various cities in the world were writing and capturing in beautiful photography. Fast forward a couple of years and a pandemic later, and I’ve had the chance to connect with Robin through photography. I contacted him for a short quote in an article about Amsterdam photographers. Then he contacted me for a talk on the bench for his new project called “Good Place”, and I proposed an interview for my blog. When two people with multiple and similar passions meet, ideas spark and collaborations are inevitable. I’m sure this is not the last time we work on something together and I’m curious to see what the future will bring.
Robin made it its mission to “connect citizens through creativity, storytelling, enthusiasm and building a global network of creative citizens”. When you talk to him, you see its passion for people, places, and connecting the dots in between. I asked him a few questions to better understand the driving force behind all his creative work. Read on and make sure to check out Robin’s website and social channels if you feel a connection.
Hi Robin, thanks for accepting my invite for this interview! Please tell us about yourself. Who is Robin Cox?
Robin: You’re welcome, happy to finally join your interview.
I’m Robin, a city enthusiast, photographer, creative explorer, and an idealist (making my surroundings a better place). But first and foremost, I’m a father of two young daughters, and a boyfriend, living with my small family in The Hague.
I want to start with the beginning. I remember discovering you first years ago, when I stumbled upon A City Made by People. I loved the projects that you were running at that time and was a big fan. How did you come up with that idea? And tell me, in short, how did this idea changed into what it is today?
Robin: Thanks for the kind words!
Well, it all started as ‘Citinerary’, a meet & greet travel platform between travellers and locals, so visitors could discover the real side of a side, beyond the hotspots and consumers.
But soon I realised I wanted to be relevant for citizens and create more engagement amongst them towards their own city. So changed the name to A City Made By People, being a platform for stories via local correspondents (at one point 100+ worldwide), online, and later in the form of a magazine, but also through events, with presentations of local projects. I think it was very successful, engaging with so many citizens around the world was a dream come true.
Through the pandemic, the network fell apart and it felt that it was time for something else. When I moved to The Hague from Amsterdam, I wanted to focus back on storytelling and connecting with citizens. So I wondered, why does someone live in a particular city? I invited my neighbour Tyron for the first episode on a public bench. And the Good Place Podcast was born!
So as of today, A City Made By People is a creative studio and we come up with projects like Good Place, all here to ‘Make Cities More Human’.
You seem to be fascinated by people, and the way they “make” a place. Tell me more about this fascination of yours. 🙂
Robin: That’s true… I mean, we all live our lives, keeping up with the rat race, but what we see around us shouldn’t be taken for granted. Some amazing fellow citizens add value to this city and it should be seen. And if we know more about what’s happening in our own city, we might feel more responsible about it (and perhaps decide to never leave). Through that consciousness, I hope citizens will also roll up their sleeves to work on their own place/ city/ town. And when you know more, you feel that you belong more.
What motivated you to start your “Good Place” series, and how do you choose your guests?
Robin: Good Place, a podcast across YouTube, but also Spotify + Apple Podcast, can be seen as one large research project. The conversations lead to connections and share insights about people’s lives and what they value of a city. Being in a good place is not only physical but also about your mental space.
So what motivates me:
– To push myself to get out of my own bubble and meet people I wouldn’t have met
– Also to overcome the word ‘Expat’ which creates a distance amongst locals. An Expat not only leaves after a few years, but some want to stay for the rest of their lives.
– To help people look for their own Good Place (hence our only program and other tools that we have put out there).
The guests are chosen organically, sometimes industry/topic-related, such as placemaking, mobility, etc. but it’s all about the story they want to share.
What is a good place for you?
Robin: That’s a spot-on question. At this moment in time, it’s about finding the right balance between being a good family man, and following my creative ambitions + dreams. Which is not easy at all, because it goes back and forth, but I’m getting better at it.
How do you integrate the voices and stories of the people you interview on the bench into your broader creative work?
Robin: I think it goes hand–in-hand, some people from my network are reunited on the bench, because we lost touch for more than a decade. So I think it’s also a nice invitation to connect again.
What has been your most memorable or surprising conversation on the bench so far?
Robin: There have been a few memorable moments, on and off the bench. For example, I met a guy cleaning cars in The Hague. And he shared his life story about being a refugee from Iraq. He gave me his card and a year later when I launched the podcast, I invited him on the bench to share his story. I like how these happy accidents, lead to conversations and connections.
You sometimes bump into people and you don’t know how they’ll fit in your life, but at one given moment, it starts to make sense.
After a start as a YouTube conversation on a public bench, you took this concept to a new level, creating a community and a support group. What can you tell me about these and who are they designed for?
Robin: Through these conversations, I realised that there was a need for ‘citizens’ to have a support network, where they can work on their next steps in life and reach out when having questions. That’s why I decided to offer an online program to citizens, looking to change cities, move into new careers or start a local project. It’s about finding the right balance between person and place.
The community space is a logical result of it, where citizens continue to engage and be there for each other.
And lastly, besides the program, we’re actually working on our own Good Place Bench. A bench that helps citizens to share their stories or provide a listening ear, is something that is needed in cities, neighbourhoods, and streets. So we hope to launch it this year and the dream would be to build a network of benches around the world.
You are also a photographer and one of your projects is photography walks. What can you tell me about your passion for photography? What inspires you?
Robin: One word: people.
I think that overall my mission is the same for everything I do and photography is one of the tools where I capture the connection between people and place. With photography, I like to capture human interest stories, but which share some positivity and a smile.
I’ve always been photographing, but during the pandemic I hit the road everyday, capturing moments of people on the streets of Amsterdam. And that’s where I realised that I wanted to become a photographer and be able to capture these moments everyday.
Looking at the city through the lens, makes you also appreciate your fellow citizen a lot more. Something I like to share with a wider audience as well. I launched a zine a while ago, but maybe it’s time for an exhibition.
An exhibition would be great, let me know if it happens! How do you balance your work as a photographer, YouTuber, and founder of ACMP with family life?
Robin: That’s the biggest challenge and my personal good place mission.
A lot of late-night editing and working, but I’m also really looking into AI tools, and collaborations and not doing everything by myself.
But I know I can’t do everything at once, so some projects will get more or less attention.
How do you stay creatively inspired, especially when working on long-term projects?
R: It’s becoming repetitive here, but also people.
I get a lot of inspiration through my conversations with people, the podcast, program, the people I collaborate with. But I also take a lot of inspiration from fellow makers and storytellers, that move in different territories and topics, but still touch upon human interest stories.
How do you maintain authenticity in your creative work, in an era of social media and constant content creation?
R: I think authenticity starts with intention. It’s my intention to offer people a platform to share their stories and to inspire others with those narratives. So we capture what is real, not what is fake or artificially created. Interviews are never scripted, they happen as they happen. I hardly take or edit out anything, only if it’s sensitive stuff that could harm others.
So I follow my mission and intention which I think is authentic, because it’s not about me and what I believe. It’s about collectivity and not individuality, which I think is what the world needs most.
Can you think of ways in which cities can better support creative communities and individuals like yourself?
R: That’s a very good question.
There’s definitely room for more support of those creative communities… but I know from examples in the cities where I live(d), that there’s is that willingness to support. More and more solutions are not thought of by municipalities but by their peers and people within the city. But maybe there should be a board where the need for support can made more visible, so cities know that it’s something to look at.
A good question to think of, but I also like the bottom-up approach and character of our initiatives. From the people to the people!
— Robin Cox
City Enthusiast, Photographer, Creative Explorer
GoodPlace/A City Made by People
Photography: RCXMoments