Putting “Creativity” on the Map: The Rise of the “Creative City” as a Global Planning Concept since 1980

“Cities are cauldrons of creativity” – Richard Florida. The twenty-first century is the century of the cities. Over half of the world’s population today live in cities. Concomitantly, the “creative city” has become a leading concept in urban planning and city management. But how so? The question then is, how did the popularity of the “creative city” concept come about? When the “creative city” concept first emerged/was introduced around the late 1980s, it was seen as an aspirational concept: a call to encourage open-mindedness, imagination and public participation. Cities, regions, and nations all call themselves “creative”. This thesis traces the rise and global proliferation of the “creative city” concept, going back to its first formulations in the late 1980s. The effects and impact of neo-liberalism and globalization only offer a partial explanation to this development. Sure, the information and technological revolution, namely the internet-based “new economy”, has created dramatic socio-economic and cultural transformations, resulting in a shift in focus from brawn (physical labor) to brain, where value added is generated by ideas that are turned into innovations and inventions. In this process, cities have been drawn into this reinvigorated globalization, becoming the hubs of wealth creation, increasingly more so than nation-states. This thesis, however, suggests shifting the focus towards the most prominent proselytizers of the concept. The popularity of authors such as Charles Landry and Richard Florida has given a particular emphasis in not only promoting the “creative city” concept, but also within the urban planning discourse itself, as well as the subsequent discussions, debates and criticisms surrounding it. Hence, by engaging critically with these authors, the thesis stresses the point that popular ideas do not simply reflect circumstances of wider trends, but require the agency of historical actors to gain traction