Creative Cities and Regions: The Case for Local Economic Diversity

Abstract

In their recent discussion of the Richard Florida and Jane Jacobs-inspired ‘creative cities’ policy literature, Hospers and Pen argue that despite increasingly more effective ‘space shrinking’ technologies, cities remain among the most suitable locations for creative activities of all types. This paper supplements their contribution by documenting more concretely how economically diversified cities provide a fertile environment for the discovery and development of new technological combinations. In doing so, we try to illustrate how a better understanding of the linkages between creativity and urban agglomeration would benefit from a multidisciplinary approach that studies both phenomena simultaneously. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.