The Creative Class, Importance of Economic Development and Planning - Research Paper Example

Creative The purpose of this essay is to elaborate on the various aspects of the term that is commonly known as the ‘creative ’The emergence of the creative class has been an essential component of the economy today, especially in the global financial crisis of 2008-09. The paper thus seeks to establish how the creative class is different from all other economic classes. Initially, the paper discusses in detail the concept of the emergence of the creative class, stressing on the differences of this particular class to other economic classes. Then it moves on to focus on the criticisms that have been raised about the class. Pondering over the market strategies adopted by this class, the paper also institutes the notions of the creative class namely brain drain and brain gain. In short, the paper, quoting examples, determines the validity of the claim that the creative class is mandatory for economic planning and development. Introduction Over the last few centuries, the world has prospered in many ways. The advancement in science and technology is responsible for all the development that has taken place across the globe. However, despite the era of technology and enlightenment, there are certain things that remain the same. One such thing in the social structure of an economy is the class. (Bonanni, 2004) The term ‘class’ is a very interesting one as it is often used to refer to a group of individuals who possess the economic influence and leverage over a certain number of people. Class, still being a part of the social structure, is a huge determinant of economic planning and development. In fact the last decade has seen a lot of theoretical work on the effect of a certain class on the development of a particular market in an economy. In the past decade, most analysts have pondered over the relationship of creativity (more appropriately the creative class) and economic development. (Atkinson, 2009) For most commentators, the explanation of economic development through the concept of creativity is a tired formula which does not really help achieve any appropriate results. (Peck, 2005) For others however, the idea of an economy that is based on skills and services is a creative one, an idea that has affected the ground rules for achieving economic development. This in turn has affected how many cities and urban centres (that are economic hubs) have sought to manage their economic policies with a special focus on the arts, culture and other place based characteristics in order to make the cities a better place to live in. Before that is discussed, it is important to focus on the concept and attributes of the creative class. Creative class A ‘creative class’ is a term that is referred to a socio economic class which is considered responsible for the economic development, especially in the post industrial cities of the United States. (Florida, 2002) The term first coined by Professor Richard Florida is often used to describe the class of individuals that have been very essential for the economic development in the urban centres. Traditionally there had been two classes that dominated the urban centres, namely the blue collars and the white collars. The blue collared people are the ones who use their physical power and strength to participate in economic activities. These types of people are sometimes skilled a little, but the majority of such a group always uses physical strengths, and not abilities, in their respective fields and occupations. A good and appropriate example of the ‘blue collared people’ is a porter who uses his physical strength to carry the luggage of passengers and in doing so, does not require any particular skill as the physical strength is an innate quality (with some exceptions). White collared workers, on the other hand, are a bunch of individuals who require better skills than the blue collared ones as they have to cope up with management positions. Usually termed as ‘professionals,’ the white collared people are the ones who are highly paid (in comparison to the blue collared people) and enjoy better job related benefits. A self explanatory example of a white collared person would be a manager of a particular shop. Apart from the white collared and the blue collared people, there has been another class that has emerged recently. This class has been called the creative class. A creative class by definition consists of people who are very highly educated, have good leadership and management skills, are able to apply theoretical concepts to practical situations and are capable of discovering new technologies, ideas and plans. Since these workers are highly skilled they enjoy higher paying jobs, higher skill jobs for the purpose of knowledge and professionalism. According to a survey more than 35 million of the people across the entire United States work as the creative class. (Florida, 2010) According to Florida, these people are currently employed in fields that include science, technology, and engineering; business, finance, and management; law, health care, and education; and arts, culture, media, and entertainment. With regard to the occupations of the creative class, Florida divides them into two broad categories, the Super Creative Core and the Creative Professionals. The Super Creative Core of the creative class consists of the group of individuals who have a wide range of occupations. This group of individuals, comprising of 12% of the creative class in the United States, is responsible for science, engineering, education, research along with the arts and cultural studies. The Core of the creative class basically comprises of those individuals who ‘engage fully in the creative process.’ (Florida, 2009) So these individuals are the ones who are the most innovative and are capable of creating both commercial and capital goods. These individuals are usually the think tanks of companies and economic institutions. This is so because their primary job is innovation and research and in doing so they might not just solve particular problems but find others that require notice. Apart from the Super Creative Core, there is also another group of individuals who are termed as ‘Creative Professionals.’ As the name suggests, the people belonging to this group are highly and professionally skilled to carry out a certain task. This group, which basically comprises of the education, healthcare and the legal sector, makes use of intensive knowledge to solve particular problems. Hence, in order to belong to this group, a person might require abundant information and knowledge about the carrying of a certain job. This means that higher degrees are required to be a part of this group. (Langdon, 2002) From the above mentioned research, it can be observed that the creative class of individuals is present in almost any field that is knowledge intensive and requires the use of particular innovative capabilities when it comes to the solution of certain problems. Hence, the creative class operates so widely across the globe, especially in the United States, that it roughly accounts for a third of the full employment in the United States. What is striking is the fact that despite sharing only a third of the full employment in the United States, the wages and the salaries of the creative class are more than half of the total wages and salaries of the United States. (Florida, 2010) Another important thing to note is the fact that the creative class has been experiencing the lowest amounts (and rates) of unemployment in the United States, as compared to other sectors of the economy. This means that despite the fact that some individuals in the class are paid extremely high wages, there is a similar chance for other individuals too. According to Florida, the creative class is likely to incur a great deal of economic activity and sooner the jobs that belong to the creative class would account for half of the jobs that are present in the United States alone. Therefore, the creative class is likely to create an approximate of around 6.8 million jobs by the year 2018. Figure 1 The map that is shown in the diagram above shows the growth of the creative class jobs as projected across various United States metros. According to the diagram, the greatest number of creative jobs is likely to be created in areas which are bigger regions (geographically and more importantly economically). For instance the growth of creative class jobs in the city New York alone is likely to be 250,000. On the other hand, the predicted job growth of the creative sector for Los Angeles is 184,241 jobs, for Washington DC is 139,577 jobs, for Atlanta is 106,148 jobs, for Boston is 103,120 jobs, for Dallas us 98,323 jobs, for Philadelphia is 92,187 jobs, for Minneapolis-St. Paul is 89,188 jobs, and for Houston is 88,024 jobs. A similar analysis is done in Figure 2 which is as follows. Figure 2 Since the population of large areas is also likely to increase more in the larger areas, Florida also provides an analysis of the different areas of the US by presenting data on the creative class projected percentage growth from the year 2008 to 2018. According to the map above Gainesville, FL - home to the University of Florida – is the area that is likely to gain the most number of jobs as there is a projected 17.7 percent increase in creative class jobs. Gainesville is followed by Richmond, VA with a 17.5 percent projected increase, and Greater Washington, D.C. with a 17.4 percent projected creative class job growth, Morgantown, WV with a 17.01 percent job growth, Punta Gorda, FL with a projected growth of 16.9 percent, Sioux Falls, SD with a projected growth of 16.7 percent, Ocala, FL with 16.5 percent job growth, Columbia, MO with 16.4 percent increase in the creative class jobs, and Durham, NC with a 16.4 percent job growth. The purpose of the discussion and the analysis by the means of Figure 1 and Figure 2 was to elaborate on the fact that the creative class is gaining a lot of importance, especially in the most important economy of the world. The maps show that the creative class in the future is likely to expand a lot in the US, thereby creating better knowledge based and skill based jobs that would help in innovation and would lead to the development of technology for a greater extent. Since the future projection of the job growth in the creative sector has been discussed in much detail, it is important to come to the basic step that is the factors that lead to the emergence of the creative class. Factors that attract the creative class Creativity is the ability to create new meaningful forms. (Florida, 2002) After reading this statement, a person might think that anyone with the required potential and skills, and imagination, is likely to live anywhere across the globe. However Florida states that this might not be the case in reality. In fact there are particular regions where the creative class may prosper intensely. According to him, some of the people who have been very good innovators of new ideas are the ones who behave very peculiarly and seem really odd. He believes that the potential of such people is not recognized generally in many hierarchical companies where they are called ‘mavericks.’ As a result, the business environment is not designed in a manner that helps the people achieve their true potential. Florida also argues that the overstressing on a ‘business environment’ by the public officials also undermines the potential of the skilled people. This is because a relaxed environment is not provided to the individuals in order to enhance development and creativity. Florida argues here that rather than imposing a fixed business environment, the government and the public officials should enquire the people about the environment that would suit them. This would not just bring about a confidence in the workers but they would be more incentivized to work more creatively. Florida also believes that many people gravitate towards areas that are rich with differences. That is why an area with many bohemians, gays and non mainstream individuals is the one that is likely to attract more creative class individuals. The presence of individuals having different origins, genders, races etc imply that a city or an area for that matter would nurture creativity to a greater extent. Throughout his books, Florida emphasises the fact that the countries or cities that attract a high concentration of creative class individuals prosper while other areas remain stagnant. In fact, Florida gives a lot of importance to the three main pre-requisites of ‘creative’ cities. In order to attract higher numbers of highly skilled individuals, it is important that a city possesses “the three T’s.” The three Ts stand for Talent (a population that is very highly skilled and abundantly educated), Tolerance (a community that is distinctive and is respectful for all the individuals) and Technology (the presence of infrastructure that is essential for the development of an economic culture). An area without the above mentioned three T’s is not likely to attract many individuals from various other areas. The examples of such areas include New Orleans, Buffalo, and Louisville. On the other hand, the cities, like the Washington DC, Seattle and San Francisco that are more tolerant and are different culturally act as magnets for the highly skilled. (Florida, 2002) The Creativity Index which is used by Florida in his research is also a determinant of the attraction of individuals to the big cities. According to the index, there are four elements that attract people. These include the share of the workforce that may be applicable to the creative class, the specific innovations of an area, the high tech industry and the diversity (or more appropriately the openness of the individuals in the area). Hence from this index, the areas which are less tolerant (especially towards gays and other minorities), are less innovative, have greater blue and white collared workforce, and have lesser technological advancements are likely to remain stagnant because of the outflow of the people from those areas to the other areas. This phenomenon is more appropriately referred to as the Brain Gain/Drain Game. The Brain Gain/Drain Phenomenon The ‘Brain Drain’ is often a term that is associated with the flight of the human capital. (Kemp, 2004) This means that the Brain Drain refers to a situation whereby there is a large scale immigration of individuals to another country. This phenomenon may arise due to many circumstances that may include wars, political instability, famines, lack of opportunity etc. Although previously this term was used for a phenomenon whereby the technology was transferred from one place to another, the term now is used for the movement of highly skilled and highly educated people from one area to another. So the term basically is used to describe a social movement of the creative class. Brain drain is usually consistent in areas which do not give importance to the ‘three T’s.’ With lesser tolerance, talent and technology, there is little that attracts individuals and they move to areas where there worth is realized appropriately. The brain drain is considered an economic cost. This is because the movement of high skilled individuals in search of jobs in foreign land drains the local area of the creative class. Presently a lot of brain drain is observed in developing countries where the educated creative class, after losing hope of finding better jobs, move to the developed countries with the prospects of better and well paid work. The ‘Brain Gain’ on the other hand refers to a situation whereby there is a large scale immigration of individuals from another country into one’s own country. This phenomenon may arise due to many circumstances that may include better job opportunities, securities, high paid salaries etc. So the term ‘brain gain’ basically is used to describe a social movement of the creative class from the less incorporating areas to one’s own area. Brain gain is usually consistent in areas which do give a lot of importance to the ‘three T’s.’ Examples include Washington DC and San Francisco. With a great deal of emphasis on greater tolerance, talent and technology, many individuals move to the area as they know that they would get (as salary) what they deserve. The brain gain is considered an economic benefit. This is so because the movement of high skilled individuals in search of jobs from foreign land benefits the local area of the creative class. Presently a lot of brain gain is observed in developed countries whereby the educated creative class is increasing in number because of the constant immigration. Since the phenomenon of Brain Drain has been explained in a lot of detail, it is important to concentrate on the criticisms of the notion of the ‘creative class.’ The criticisms on the ‘creative class’ Research over the last few decades has proved that human capital is very valuable for the economic development of an institution, company or for that matter a state. However there are many issues about the potential of the human capital when it comes to the determination of the creative class. The first and the foremost is the fact that there is no proper well defined way of calculating the potential of a human being. (Mellander and Florida, 2006) This means that there still is no consensus over the best determination of a human’s capital. Conventionally, the potential of human beings is determined by the consideration of the educational attainment. But this measure may not be appropriate everywhere. Recent research suggests that it would be more important and appropriate to measure what the people in reality do in a job environment rather than focusing on the educational degrees that the person may possess. (Markusen, 2006) This is so because a person who has a higher degree might not be able to perform in an innovative environment. It is quite plausible to state that the educational attainment may enhance the ability to discover new ideas but that might not be true all the time. This causes a problem as there is no way of determining which group of individuals combine to form the creative class. A creative class clearly represents a population of individuals that is creative in nature but there is no direct manner in which the extent of the creativity has to be measured in order to classify an individual as belonging to the creative class. Another criticism of the creative class culture is that it leads to the creation of the jobs that are mainly concentrated in certain geographical areas. The maps earlier portrayed the same results. Creative class jobs mostly exist in terrains that are accessible through normal and cheap of modes of transport. This means that certain areas are deprived of the creation of jobs (even though the population of the areas might be highly skilled) just because they may not have accessible roads etc. Another important thing to consider here is that the increased stress on the creative class jobs has led to a drastic decline of jobs in the blue collared sector. This implies that the jobs are either very highly paid (creative class) or are very lowly paid (low service jobs). As a consequence, there is a bifurcation of the workforce. The geographical constraints add to the problem such that there is an unequal distribution of wealth and income. Also, it is often unfair to the individuals who are less paid because of their lack of skills that have basically resulted from the lack of opportunities when it comes to education. Every single individual might not have access to proper education and in such a case, there is no affirmative action taken for such an unskilled worker. The creative class is also criticised for the lack of the respect for the traditional attire and values of a work place. A workplace is an environment where many individuals work together for a common cause. Since it is of vital importance, the workplace generally has a set of rules that have to be followed. The concept of the workplace, however, is usually not the same in the creative class culture. Since the creative class consists of individuals who are highly educated and trained, they set up their own working hours and standards. Independence is one thing that is greatly practiced in the creative class culture. (Florida, 2002) Independence may be good to some extent but the setting of different standards in the workplace is a likely cause for disunity. The result is that the workers in the creative class culture may not be as united, for a common cause, as the blue collared or white collared workers are. Conclusion To conclude, the creative class is a term that is used to depict the people who are very highly skilled and educated. The term, originated from the works of Richard Florida, is a descriptive one that realizes the potential of the ‘creative’ people. It is quite evident that the creative class is essential for the economic development of the US (as it would lead to the creation of 6.8 million jobs by 2018), yet it is also essential to realize that the presence of the notion of the creative class creates wage differentials and thus an unequal distribution of wealth and income. Also it leads to a disrespect of the traditional attire of the workplace and causes problems, like disunity, in many economic institutions. In order to get rid of such problems it is important to carry out research in some areas. Firstly, it is important to find out whether the initiation of training programs that are aimed at the increasing of the productivity of the ‘uncreative’ individuals help alleviate the problem of poverty in the unskilled and low skilled workers. The implications of such a policy on the creative class and the consequent human capital flight (brain drain/ gain) should also be compared. Also, it is essential to find out whether growth and income growth associated with the presence of the creative class results from rising wages of the creative class within the region and how much “spills over” to other classes in the region as a result of the efforts of class members? (Pratt et al., 2008) This is an important research question because it would help explain if the income and job growth indeed is as a result of the presence of the creative class instead of being a result of some other phenomenon. In summary, further research should be carried out to corroborate the findings of Florida. Works Cited Atkinson, R. "The Consequences of the Creative Class: The Pursuit OfCreativity Strategies in Australia’s Cities." State of Australian Cities Conference (2007). Print. Bonanni, A. Creative Class: the Rise of Richard Florida. New South Wales: University of New South Wales, 2004. Print. Florida, R. "Where the Creative Class Jobs Will Be." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International. TheAtlantic.com. 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2010. . Florida, R. Whos Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life. US: Basic, 2009. Print. Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class: and How Its Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. US: Basic Books, 2002. Print. Kemp, R. Cities and the Arts: A Handbook for Renewal. US: McFarland and Company, 2004, Print. Langdon, P. "The Coming of the Creating Class." Planning 68.7 (2002). Print. Markusen, A. Regional Occupational and Industrial Structure: Does One Imply the Other? International Regional Science Review., 2006. Print. Mellander, C., and R. Florida. "The Creative Class or Human Capital? Explaining Regional Development in Sweden." Creative Class (2006). Print. Pratt, J., D. Norris, and L. Marler. Research Frontiers for the Creative Class. Louisiana: Louisiana Tech University, 2008. Print. Read More