CREATIVE PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND PLACES IN SMALL CITIES AND RURAL AREAS

Abstract

Richard Florida states that ‘creativity’ – the ability to generate new knowledge or to convert existing knowledge into economically successful applications – is an increasingly important resource for economic development [Florida 2002]. But 20 years after this statement, creative industries were the sector that had the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic [UNESCO 2021], affecting businesses and especially, creative individuals. While forced to stay at home, people also changed their daily routines, places to live and many of them moved out of the big cities to smaller ones or rural areas. In many cases, online tools and resources allowed them to continue their creative practices and businesses or created new opportunities. Several questions arise – how do creative people choose the place to live? What are the factors which influence these choices? Can small cities and rural areas compete with large cities, and what are the preconditions for these small cities to attract creative people? Theoretical review has been developed, and the goal of this article is to formulate the insight into relation between creative people, creative industries, and creative places in small cities and rural areas.