Creative Flows between Creative Cities
Cities which are only now fully experiencing the process of transition towards a knowledge-based economy, and are therefore better equipped to regulate the development or transformation of the built environment would do well to learn from the experience of others
Giovanni Padula
Spatial distribution of the creative industries in Cinema/ audiovisual production and radio-TV per number of workers (Amsterdam, 2004). Source: Department of Economic Development, city of Amsterdam
The close contact between people and ideas still remains one of the factors which make our cities and urban areas attractive and indispensable. So much so that those capable of attracting and bringing together the workers and professionals of the knowledge-based economy – Richard Florida’s ‘Creative Class’ – will grow and prosper more than others.
And while our cities are taking on this challenge, we should be examining the relation between the spread of creative companies, advanced services and the creative class on the one hand and the evolution of the physical world, the built environment on the other. This is an important area in the transition of cities towards a knowledge-based economy.
Cities which rely on interpersonal interchanges as a key resource have to get used to taking account (literally) of flows of people, of mobility that can take a wide range of forms: a considerable turnover of highly qualified individuals who move around in search of opportunities; a labour market in constant ferment: in the most dynamic urban areas a rise or fall in the number of jobs of 1 or 2 percent in a year may correspond to a volume of jobs created and lost in the same period of up to 15%; and a continuous daily mass movement of people – within, and into and out of the city, travelling between home, work and the leisure time and cultural venues they frequent.
It is thanks to creative companies, like design and architecture firms, that abandoned or depressed areas have been restored and ‘reconditioned’
And together with flows of people cities must also consider the movement of an increasing portion of the urban economy, that of the creative sector. This sector of the knowledge economy comprises companies which employ mostly creative staff, who often use intellectual property as a tool for growth, and exhibit their prowess in the creation and application of symbolic idioms. This group includes companies working in design, architecture, advertising, the media, dance and theatre companies, and the film and music industries. Some experts reckon it should also include companies which create software, or corporate research and development laboratories.
And it is thanks to creative companies, even just design and architecture companies alone, that abandoned or depressed areas have been restored and “reconditioned”. Central and inner city areas of London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Barcelona have been given a new lease of life thanks to the arrival of creative companies in search of cheap, informal working environments. These companies have brought in cafés and trendy shops, art galleries, cultural venues and housing, attracting a “pioneering” crowd interested in renovating and trying out new areas. Then as property prices and rents go up, a wealthier set moves in, along with bigger, more established companies. In many cases while “organic” phenomena of urban rehabilitation like the above were taking place, the same cities were also caught up in a whirl of grandiose urban projects designed by top notch architects and developed by huge property companies. These projects were often destined to host key companies or residences for the professionals and workers of the knowledge-based economy. But it is worth noting that large-scale urban projects designed to respond to a predicted growth in demand for office space are now facing a situation that at the very least would suggest a cautious approach: in Europe many offices are now used by their occupants for less than half of the working week, less than 10% of total time, and in Amsterdam, an area designed and built on a grand scale for IT companies – Silicon Polder – currently has a huge amount of unsold, unlet space, with around 300,000 empty offices.
Cities which are only now fully experiencing the process of transition towards a knowledge-based economy, and are therefore better equipped to regulate the development or transformation of the built environment would do well to learn from the experience of others. And they would do well to explore a series of questions. What are creative companies’ favourite destinations? What about the socio-demographic profile of the creative class, the talent that the city wants to build on and develop over the next 10-15 years? What type or amount of physical working space will advanced services companies require, in order to remain competitive and invest in the city? Maybe creative companies are interested in the city as a whole, so it would be worthwhile investing in transport between the centre and outskirts; perhaps the creative class will be mostly composed of young families so it would be more useful to focus on housing designed for that sector of the market; maybe the big corporations will not need huge prestigious facilities for their personnel, but flexible environments, which will mean focusing on specific, high quality operations rather than huge office blocks. The quality of constructions, the “personality” and the equilibrium of city centre and suburbs are all set to be increasingly important factors in terms of the quality of life in the city, and its ability to attract the creative class, the importance of which should not be underestimated.
