Description
Book SynopsisThis book challenges the new urban growth concepts of the creative class and creative industries from a critical urban theory perspective.
- Critiques Richard Florida''s popular books about cities and the creative class
- Presents an alternative approach based on analyses of empirical research data concerning the German urban system and the case study regions, Hanover and Berlin
- Underscores that the culture industry takes a leading role in conforming with neoliberal conceptions of labor markets
Trade Review"On the whole, The Creative Capital of Cities makes a valuable contribution to the urban economic literature. It provides a critical and quite comprehensive overview of a number of issues that have so far been left too much aside in the current debate." (J Hous and the Built Environ, 8 September 2012)
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations vii
Series Editors’ Preface x
Introduction 1
1 Creativity and Innovation under the Command of Capital 12
The Capitalist Imperative of Creativity and Innovation 12
Generalizing Models of Urban Economic Development 18
The Role of Innovation and Interurban Competition in Harvey’s Theory of Capitalist Urbanization 24
Conclusion 34
2 Creative Cities as a New Urban Growth Ideology: The Impact of Creative Occupations on Regional Economic Success 37
Introduction 37
Critique of Florida’s Conception of the Creative Class 39
An Assessment of Regional Economic Success Factors and the Impact of Creative Workers on Regional Development 47
The Impact of Creative Occupational Groups on Regional Economic Development in Germany 52
Relationship between “Qualities of Place” and the Regional Concentration of Scientifically and Technologically Creative Workers 77
Conclusion 88
3 Innovation and Knowledge Networks in a Metropolitan Region: The Impact of Localization Economies and Networking on Technological Creativity 92
Introduction 92
Innovation and Knowledge Networks: Theoretical Approaches 97
The Application of Network Analysis to Urban Regions’ Knowledge Networks 104
Geographic Scales and Structural Properties of Knowledge Networks in the Metropolitan Region of Hanover 109
Assessment of Network Impacts on Regional Firms’ Innovation Output 121
Conclusion 125
4 Creativity in the Culture and Media Industries: The Impact of Commercial Imperatives on Artistic Creativity 128
Introduction 128
The Institutional Order of the Cultural Economy: Creativity in a Capitalist Context 131
Global Centers of the Culture Industry and the Production of Lifestyle Images 146
Conclusion 155
5 Local Clustering of the Cultural Economy in the Metropolis of Berlin: The Urbanization Economies of Artistically Creative Occupations 158
Introduction 158
The Rise of the Cultural Economy in Berlin’s Inner-City Area 163
Creative Cities and the Role of the Culture Industries in Urban Economic and Spatial Development: Implications for Urban Regeneration 183
Conclusion 191
6 Synthesis: The Creative Capital of Cities 194
Appendix: Grouping of Occupations and Subsectors 208
References 219
Index 234
