An Analysis of Floridas Creative City Thesis - Essay Example

?An Analysis of Florida’s Creative Thesis Introduction For urban development policy and cities, Richard Florida’s theory of ‘creative wasincredibly valuable. Florida (2005) has an interesting idea about the success of a city: ‘cool’, liberal, diverse cities are more likely to succeed. Locations with more counter subcultures, homosexuals, and ethnic groups will attract highly competent workers, and hence draw highly successful companies and the finest jobs. The arguments of Florida belong to a wider foundation of theories and practices delving into knowledge-based urban development. In truth, the ideas of Florida are radical, debatable, controversial, and very appealing for avant-garde scholars and policymakers (Kong & O’Connor 2009). It is hence vital to have a better understanding of the creative class thesis and what it means for cities across the globe. If this is the case, numerous urban development policy models adopted by countries should be re-evaluated. The creative class perspective is becoming a component of the established knowledge about how to improve the performance of cities. Thus, this essay tries to explain Florida’s argument that creativity is the key to successful regeneration and growth of cities. The theory of Florida rests on the idea that societies are going through a major shift from an industrial structure to a knowledge-based structure wherein ‘creativity’ is an ever more crucial asset. Creativity is defined as the capacity to produce new ideas or to transform current ideas into productive economic models (Bocock 1992). Using the United States as a prime illustration, Florida (2002) has shown that the ‘creative class’ is unevenly scattered within the nation’s regional structure, and that urban areas where the bulk of the ‘creative class’ resides successfully attains stable progress in high-technology industries. Derived from the premise that newly created jobs in knowledge-based and innovative economic industries are formed mostly in cities where creative potentials are strong, Florida examines particular forces that enhance cities’ attractiveness to creative class members (Miles & Paddison 2005). Above all, he highlights appealing socio-cultural features like cultural diversity and broad-mindedness. As stated by Florida, “Essentially my theory says that regional economic growth is driven by the location choices of creative people—the holders of creative capital—who prefer places that are diverse, tolerant, and open to new ideas” (Florida 2002, 223). According to Pike and Tomaney (2010), this theory works as the foundation for a notion of ‘creative cities’ that separates a specific group of local growth variables which can be exercised for the expansion and strengthening of entrepreneurial systems of urban management. Even in the international discourse on urban development policy, innovation and creativity are underlined as the new crucial approaches towards city regeneration and progress. Hence, terms such as ‘creative class’, ‘creative industries’, ‘creative economy’, ‘creative city’, and so on, are governing and reorganising modern scholarly discourses about urban development (Eckardt 2011, 560). As explained by Peter Hall: “Culture is now seen as the magic substitute for all the lost factories and warehouses, and as a device that will create a new urban image, making the city more attractive to mobile capital and mobile professional workers” (Eckardt 2011, 560). However, the stress on the importance of cities as sources of creativity and as sites of cultural creation, innovativeness, and motivation is certainly not an unfamiliar one. As underlined by Peter Hall, cities have ever since been associated with innovation, creativity, and culture, whilst they manifest various kinds of innovation and creativity at various times; for instance, the intellectual and artistic landscape in Berlin in the mid-20th century or the dramatic consequences of London’s very first system of underground transportation in the 19th century (Judge, Stoker, & Wolman 1995). According to Simmel (2006 as cited in Eckardt 2011, 560-561), in all early sociological perspectives of cities, thorough illustrations can be uncovered on how the metropolitan structure composed of diversity, density, and expanse are converted into certain kinds of economic efficiency and cultural production. For that reason, cities are breeding places of creativity and culture due to the great density of diverse social groups with distinct lifestyles and cultural practices. The present focus or the ‘revival’ of cities, specifically the economic and cultural creativity within the concept of ‘creative city,’ is demonstrated by two aspects. Primarily, cities have to create economic progress at the same time as having to manage the steady weakening of the manufacturing sector (Rowe 2009). Subsequently, as stated by Hall (2002), cultural creativity has developed into an integral economic zone and a competitive advantage resource for cities. According to Eckardt (2011, 561-563), thirty years ago, culture was largely viewed as a ‘soft’ geographical feature that was integrated into the urban regeneration agendas to build attractive consumption scenes and visual spaces, such as museums, theme parks, etc., to draw tourists, investors, and highly competent workers. Eventually, cultural creativity has developed into a ‘hard’ geographical feature through the increasing value of creative industries and their capacity to cultivate urban regeneration and development. As shown in current literature, creative and cultural industries are profoundly entrenched in the city economies and flourished on home-grown cultural centre as a productive asset. The creative city has shortly become a well-liked and widespread idea among urban legislators all over the world. Although Florida was not the first, or even the sole scholar to engage in the creative city theory, several scholars, specifically Peck (2005), remarked on Florida’s rendition of the creative city theory (as cited in Van Geenhuizen & Nijkamp 2012, 23): The book... has proved to be a hugely seductive one for civic leaders around the world... From Singapore to London, Dublin to Auckland, Memphis to Amsterdam; indeed, all the way to Providence RI and Green Bay WI, cities have paid handsomely to hear about the new credo of creativity, to learn how to attract and nurture creative workers. Nevertheless, the connection between urban growth and culture is still mostly “a black box in which most cities move like amateurs”, according to Russo and Van der Borg (2010 as cited in Van Geenhuizen & Nijkamp 2012, 23). More pessimistic is the comment of Chatterton (2007) as he claims that the creative economy is generally “little more than a rhetorical device which can placate the hearts and minds of local councillors and politicians that they are actually doing something whilst doing hardly anything at all” (as cited in Van Geenhuizen & Nijkamp 2012, 23). Without a doubt, the creative city theory has its model metropolises, like Barcelona, Glasgow, and San Francisco (Van Geenhuizen & Nijkamp 2012, 23). Nevertheless, as frequently with ideas that rise into popularity briefly, other cities are inclined to implement it somewhat unquestioningly. As argued by Beauregard (2003), “the theories that result from paradigmatic cases are often not appropriate to explain the development of cities on a more general level” (as cited in Judge, Stoker, & Wolman 1995, 55). This means that regardless how appealing the creative city theory could be, creative city plans bear a considerable possibility of failure. According to Judge and colleagues (1995), it poses issues regarding the level to which the premise of creative city, which could be most appropriate for first-mover metropolises, is assignable to other metropolises, and a creative city’s fundamental features and capacity for sustainable and stable urban economic growth. The creative city thesis of Florida has had a similar, but newer, influence on regional and local development policy to that seen in the 1990s with the introduction of Michael Porter’s theories (Rowe 2009, 71). Florida made use of an evaluation of the behaviour of city economies in the United States to assume that cities with a dense population of ‘bohemians’, homosexuals, and skilled technical workers in creative industries enjoyed better growth rates than their counterparts populated by white collar or customary blue workers. Significantly, Florida believed that urban areas that promoted creativity, were accepting of diverse cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, such as those of immigrants and homosexuals, and were appealing to young individuals, were more inclined to gain advantages within the reforming economic sectors of First World countries (Miles & Miles 2004). As emphasised by Florida (2005), numerous localities and cities fail to draw the attention of the creative class, or creative class members relocate from those localities to more engaging and challenging places. Florida (2005) tried to quantify the charisma of certain cities to the members of the creative class via a sequence of indicators: diversity index, gay index, and Bohemian index. Florida’s thesis was introduced as strongly crucial to the tradition of local development for he stated than in the 21st century regions and cities have to cultivate a creative culture or surroundings. It was proposed that rather than improving infrastructure, regions and cities should advance coffee culture, initiate social changes that stressed broad-mindedness, endorse cultural affairs and redesign their urban settings to make them more appealing to members of the creative class (Rowe 2009). Essentially, the assumptions of Florida were rooted in the quantitative evaluation of a big data set which enhanced the ‘credibility’ and implication of his ideas. However, as stated earlier, Florida’s explanation of current growth mechanisms has been exposed to thorough assessment of scholars with a number of researchers questioning his data interpretation, whereas, according to Cherbo and colleagues (2008), others have challenged its importance to smaller localities or the political setting wherein his thesis has been implemented. Nevertheless, the thesis of Florida has had a remarkable impact on local development policy and it is important to consider the nature of that influence. The popularity of Florida in the field of economic growth policy cannot be questioned. For a certain period of time cities in highly industrialised nations all over the world have become persuaded that they have to build their image as ‘creative cities’ so as to draw the members of the creative class. Communities as diverse as Adelaide in South Australia and Sheffield in northern England have tried to build their ‘creative’ image, while simultaneously evaluating their outcomes against Florida’s indicators (Kong & O’Connor 2009, 129). Kong and O’Connor (2009) further stated that government officials have hired professionals to evaluate their ‘creative city’ capacity and provide them recommendations to improve their integrity as a creative city. The features of Florida’s thesis and his dissemination method raised the influence of his ideas on local development policy. The fact that his theory was rooted in a quantitative evaluation of data on the growth rates of different cities added to the legitimacy and influence of his arguments (Neill 2004). Primarily, his findings were successfully disseminated to quantitatively-oriented economists hired by national governments. In addition, his application of indices and case studies contributed to the urgency and sentiment of his ideas for local development experts (Rowe 2009). He disseminated his arguments by means of the mass media and introduced them in international conventions and major lectures. There are several lessons to be taken from the conversion of Florida’s thesis into local development policy. First, an idea produced by a scholar gained the extensive support of government agencies, which consequently shaped the methods and processes of economic development sectors. Florida’s thesis gained the recognition of governments for he proposed a practical policy programme that did not essentially depend on sizeable government financial support. The ideas were also agreeable to governments for they possess a credibility that is rooted in their beginnings in prestigious economic and business groups (Evans 2001). Second, Florida mainly disseminated his thesis through non-academic means and this rendered the conversion from the theory to local development practice a lot more clear-cut. To a great extent, Florida’s thesis does not essentially demand a lightly modified model of economic development in a specific city, or region. According to Miles and Paddison (2005), all communities can seek to become a creative city, village, or region, and all societies can try to build a group of industries rooted in certain theoretical competitive leverage, regardless if it is real or not. Indeed, the regeneration of cities is a major issue for scholars trying to make sense of it, and for national governments aspiring to take advantage of it. Toronto, Canada, has promoted a precise creative city plan. It involves a number of components that appear usual for creative cities far and wide, like initiatives to kindle cultural production and public art, monetary stimulations for major sectors, such as tourism, mass media, and the film industries, and the promotion of previously industrial vicinities. Dilapidated depots and factory shops in communities like Distillery District and Liberty Village contain fashionable apartments and various cultural sites and eateries (Van Geenhuizen & Nijkamp 2012, 25). In addition, culture is a component of the region’s city marketing policy that tries to attract investors and tourists. Likewise, Milwaukee, as proposed by Florida, implemented a unique creative city policy that involves the erection of pedestrian zones, a river walk, bike trails, and high-rise apartments in the inner city. Quite famous has been the striking inclusion of Santiago Calatrava in the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2002 (Cherbo, Stewart, & Wyszomirski 2008, 122). All this is reinforced by a comprehensive marketing New Milwaukee Campaign that highlighted, for example, the very memorable Third Ward zone and its age-old rock panorama (p. 122). Such cases prove that the creative city has numerous forms. The concentration of cities’ attempts to become a post-industrial economy has transformed from commercial and economic sectors in the 1980s to tourism and entertainment in the 1990s and to the theory of creative city at present (Cherbo et al. 2008, 122-123). Specifically, the emphasis of the 1990s on tourism and entertainment remains trendy, though, and can currently be recreated as ‘proto-creative city development’ (Pike & Tomaney 2010, 583). For instance, it is typified by waterfront developments, promotion of historic communities, cultural panoramas, and museums (p. 583). Therefore, the creative city theory may involve every single one of the aforementioned components, not independently but, preferably, in a consolidated and synchronised manner. Conclusions The confidence in the potential of art and culture, or creativity, is substantial, and seems to be especially applicable for growth and progress in an ever more knowledge-oriented world. Within this setting, culture-oriented commercial policy draws consistently larger interest, acknowledging culture and creativity as a potential field for the growth of commerce and employment. Cultural production embodies grand assets and could bolster industrial development mechanisms. The general idea of Florida’s creative city thesis criticises more traditional economic perspective that thinks cities should take part in a competition to draw investors; rather, Florida claims that investors will follow members of the creative class, and they consequently will reside where they prefer to reside instead of automatically going after the companies. However, the other part of this thesis is the issue of infrastructure and institutions that strengthens creativity. On the contrary, Florida does not actually raise the most challenging issues about the consistency and rationality of the creative class. Therefore, the popularity of Florida’s thesis was bolstered by its definitive idea of addressees and with its proficiencies in marketing. References Bocock, R.(1992) The cultural transformations of modern society. In Formations of Modernity. Milton Keynes. London: The Open University and Polity Press, pp. 229 – 274. Cherbo, J., Stewart, R., Wyszomirski, M. (2008) Understanding the Arts and Creative Sector in the United States. London: Rutgers University Press. Eckardt, F. & Eade, J. (2011) The Ethnically Diverse City. Germany: BWV Verlag. Evans, G. (2001) Cultural Planning: An Urban Renaissance?. London : Routledge. Florida, R. (2002) The Rise of the Creative Class. New York : Basic Books. Florida, R. (2005) Cities and the Creative Class. London: Routledge Hall, P.(2002) Cities of Tomorrow. Oxford : Blackwell. Judge, D., Stoker, G., & Wolman, H. (1995) Theories of Urban Politics. London: SAGE. Kong, L. & O’Connor, J. (2009) Creative Economies, Creative Cities: Asian-European Perspectives. New York: Springer. Miles, S. and Miles, M. (2004) Consuming Cities. Basingstoke : Macmillan Palgrave Miles, S. & Paddison, R. (2005) Introduction: The rise and rise of culture-led urban regeneration in Urban Studies 42:5/6:833-839 Neill, J. (2004) Urban Planning and Cultural Identity. London : Routledge. Pike, A. & Tomaney, J. (2010) Handbook of Local and Regional Development. London: Taylor & Francis. Rowe, J.E. (2009) Theories of Local Economic Development: Linking Theory to Practice. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Van Geenhuizen, M. & Nijkamp, P. (2012) Creative Knowledge Cities: Myths, Visions, and Realities. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Wilks-Heeg, S. and North, P. (2004) Cultural policy and urban regeneration: a Special Edition of Local Economy Local Economy, 19(3), pp. 305 - 311. Read More