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List of contents
1. Introduction 2. Invisible Creativity? Highlighting the Hidden Impact of Freelancing in London’s Creative Industries 3. The Role of Universities in the Regional Creative Economies of the UK: Hidden Protagonists and the Challenge of Knowledge Transfer 4. Spatial–Relational Mapping in Socio-Institutional Perspectives of Innovation 5. Creative City Policy and the Gap with Theory 6. Cultural Amenities: Large and Small, Mainstream and Niche - A Conceptual Framework for Cultural Planning in an Age of Austerity
About the author
Allan Watson is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, and an Associate Director of the Globalisation and World Cities research network.
Calvin Taylor is Professor in Cultural Economy at the University of Leeds, UK, and Director of the Culture, Society and Innovation Research Hub.
Summary
In recent years, there has been high level of interest amongst policy-makers in the ‘creative city’ concept, due to the anticipation of economic and social benefits from a growing cultural and creative economy. However, a lack of understanding of local social and economic contexts, as well as the complexities and challenges of cultural production, has resulted in formulaic, ineffective misguided policies.
This book is concerned, in various ways, with developing an understanding of the complex dimensions of cultural production, and with tackling the often weak and implied links between research, policy and urban planning. In particular, contributors are concerned with agents, protagonists and practices that appear to be somehow invisible to, hidden from, or indeed ignored in much contemporary creative cities policy. Drawing on case studies from the UK and the Netherlands, chapters consider creative industries and policy across a range of scales, from provincial cities and regional economies, to the global cities of London and Amsterdam. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.
