The Creative Class - Florida (2003): Cities and the Creative Class
8 important questions on The Creative Class - Florida (2003): Cities and the Creative Class
Which particular aspect of urban planning did Robert Florida (2003) revolutionize?
- Too much focus on companies and industries.
- Florida believes that too many theorists in urban planning are focussing on how companies, firms, and industries drive regional innovation and growth.
- Creative class as growth factor.
- The creative class of workers, drawn to particular cities, is going to drive innovation and growth.
- Acknowledgement earlier theorists.
- In line with earlier theorists who recognized that cities were places of diversity, cultural mixing and innovation.
Richard Florida (2003) disagrees with the notion that 'place' or local geography has become less important to new workers and industries due to the advent of telecommuting.
Which two reasons does Florida give for rebutting this notion?
- Importance of residence.
- While the world is becoming more digital, people still live in fixed places, surrounded by others with whom they can interact and relate.
- Clustering of similar firms
- Research indicates that similar kinds of firms cluster together.
- Not only because benefits of being located near one another and the need for face-to-face communication.
- Florida adds: firms cluster near pools of talented workers, which leads to growth.
Florida (2003) presents a theory, with which he disagrees, that is used to explain innovation and economic growth in urban areas.
About which theory is he talking and why doesn't he agree with it?
- Social Capital Theory.
- Economic growth comes from tight-knit communities, with high-levels of civic engagement and trust (i.e., strong ties).
- Social Capital & growth correlated.
- Florida's criticism:
- Workers he interviewed sought communities of weak ties with greater diversity, rather than tight-knit communities.
- Based on research by Robert Cushing (cited in Florida 2003) Social Capital Theory does not explain economic growth.
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"Other theories in urban planning and sociology argue that urban growth happens because cities are located near natural resources or along important transportation routes (rail, sea, etc.)" (Florida, 2003).
How does Human Capital Theory differ from this idea and what is Florida's spin on this theory?
- Human Capital Theory.
- Growth is predicated by investing in human capital (education, creativity).
- Firms relocate to areas with high concentrations of people with large human capital.
- Florida's Creative Capital Theory.
- Explains why creative workers relocate to one place over another.
- Unlike Human Capital Theory:
- Focus on why people relocate.
- Creativity is seen as the main driver of growth.
According to Richard Florida (2003), for a city to attract creative people and the creative class, they need to have the 3Ts.
What are the 3Ts?
- Technology.
- High-tech businesses and innovation.
- Talent.
- Higher education.
- Tolerance.
- Places with high tolerance create diverse environments which attracts creative workers.
- Not the firms who are diverse but the class of workers.
- Indices to capture tolerance:
- Melting Pot index.
- Gay Index.
- Bohemian Index.
Richard Florida introduces three indices that capture the degree of tolerance of a city or urban region.
What are these three indices and where do they stand for?
- Melting Pot Index: % foreign born.
- Correlation with high-tech industry, not with innovation (patents).
- Gay Index: % of gay and lesbian couples.
- Strong predictor of high-tech industry and this industry's growth.
- Bohemian Index: number of creatives (e.g., writers, designers, musicians, etc.).
- Predicts growth, employment and high-tech industry.
- Shows that having a creative environment as a city is more advantageous than those that do not.
What are the four main conclusions we can draw from Florida's (2003) paper on the Creative Class?
- Weak ties facilitates growth.
- Weak ties and quasi-anonymity are related to growth.
- Not from tight-knit communities with strong ties.
- New values to tie people.
- Today, people are tied together through shared interests.
- Not by traditional forms of social connection.
- City as centre of consumption and entertainment.
- Cities need to be thought of as centers for consumption and entertainment.
- Gentrification of the creative city.
- As high-skilled workers move to a city, low-skilled workers are pushed out.
What are the four main points of relevance of the paper on the Creative Class by Richard Florida (2003)?
- Cities' link with cultural production.
- The article illustrates how cities are intertwined with cultural production.
- Actionable theories for city planners.
- The article suggests ways in which cities can attract workers and businesses.
- Popular perspective.
- This perspective is popular and adopted by many city administrators, looking for solutions for growth.
- Cities over creative industries.
- The focus is on cities rather than the creative industries more specifically (form an urban planning perspective), which is very important for the CCIs.
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