The Bright and Dark Sides of the Creative City By Marco Bontje (UvA/AMIDSt) en Patrice Riemens (Waag Society) http://www.fmg.uva.nl/amidst/home.cfm
Blurb: Throughout history, cities have always been centres of creativity, and creativity has always played a major role in economic development throughout the world. In recent years, however, it would appear that creativity has become more important than ever for economic growth. Especially large cities in Europe and North America are enthusiastically developing policies to attract creative industries by facilitating creative talent. Many cities are very eager to follow the 'creative city formula' of 'gurus' like Florida and Landry and expect to become more successful and competitive in that way. Parallel to this, 'creative cities' have become a popular debating topic in the social sciences as well. Especially Florida has become a favourite target of critical scientists. His theory and empirical evidence are far from convincing. Beyond scientific validity, Florida's success among local policy-makers also raises many fundamental societal questions. To mention but a few: - Will a creative city only be developed for those with the highest education, highest income and best networks, or can it be a 'city for all'? - Is the enthusiasm of city fathers for the 'creative city' concept genuine, or is it a disingenuous ploy to escape their burdensome responsibilities with respect to increasingly 'unmanageable' urban problems like (public) housing, health, transport, education, not to mention poverty, race relations and political extremism? and: - Are creative talents and companies indeed attracted by a creative city policy, or would they prefer as little policy intervention as possible? - Is the 'creative city' concept as we know it a purely North American and European phenomenon, or does a 'non-Western' variant exist as well, as can possibly be seen in India and China for instance? _______________________ [n] come cancellarsi https://www5.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/newbrainframes [n] archivi dei messaggi http://lists.autistici.org/list/newbrainframes.html
