Creative Economies and Creative Cities


Since the publication of Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class in 2002, 'creative class' and 'creative city' have quickly become buzzwords in urban policy making for addressing post-industrial urban development and/or regeneration in and beyond cities of the Global North. The ideas of creative class and creative city have also been much criticized by academic researchers and resisted by local communities. This module examines the key components of the idea of creative city, explores the diffusion and adaptation of creative city policies on a global scale, and situates such idea and policies within the broader context of neoliberal urbanism. It consists of four themes: Themes 1 and 2 discuss the role of knowledge, technology, culture, and art as creative industries; Theme 3 focuses on the global diffusion of the discourse of creative class/city; and Theme 4 offers critiques of the idea of the creative city as well as alternative understandings of creativity.