Artists in urban regeneration processes: use and abuse?

__Abstract__ Interest in the role of culture within local economic development strategies has developed significantly both in academic and in policy-making circles since the 1980s. In recent years, one could testify a sort of ‘cultural fever’ among policy-makers and ‘cultural competition’ among cities worldwide. However the benign convergence of culture and economy is no longer an uncontested issue. Economic priorities and impacts prevail, while cultural impacts are often neglected. Urban (re)development based on culture is a composite and complex concept, encompassing economic, environmental, social, cultural and political dimensions. In particular, artists who are initiator and catalyst of the local development process are ‘used’ to trigger the regeneration process and then often forgotten. What is at the end the role of the artists in urban (re)development processes? Are they only ‘used’ and ‘instrumentalised’ for other means rather then the artistic ones? Drawing on several re-development projects in four European cities, this paper offers an overview and reflection on these issues

Cultural districts

The development of cultural districts has become a standard practice in policy-making worldwide at different scales – local, regional and national (Braun and Lavanga 2007). Government bodies have used cultural district policies to regenerate and rebrand urban areas, sometimes focusing on increasing cultural consumption, as in the case of museum districts, other times fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, as in the case of cultural production districts. This chapter first provides a definition of cultural districts and its roots in the Marshallian industrial district; secondly, it looks at the agglomeration economies that firms, organisations and individuals enjoy because they are not only co-located in the same area, but also highly interconnected among each other. The argument put forward in this chapter is the importance of intense face-to-face interaction and spatial proximity in the production, distribution and consumption of cultural goods and services

Towards a New Paradigm of the Creative City or the Same Devil in Disguise? Culture-led Urban (Re)development and Sustainability

Recent attempts have been made by scholars and policy makers to include culture in the sustainability discourse. However, there is a general lack of empirical studies that provide enough insights to understand why culture matters for sustainability. By taking the case of De Ceuvel—a planned workplace for creative and social enterprises in a heavy polluted area in Amsterdam, this chapter aims at answering the question why do cultural and creative entrepreneurs engage in sustainability and in particular in a circular economy model. KEYWORDS: Urban cultural policy, Sustainable development, Entrepreneurs, Amsterdam, Regeneratio

The "universal" characteristics of creative industries revisited: The case of Riga

__Abstract__ "Creative industries" has emerged as a universal research and policy concept exploited for the advocacy of economic development of cities, regions and countries. Existent literature implies assumptions characterising the nature of the set of activities that constitute creative industries. While studies have shown the place-specificity of the conditions relative to the development of these industries, there is little acknowledgment of the potential place-specificity of their characteristics. This article combines statistical data with the results of a survey of creative firms in Riga (Latvia) to explore the extent to which the common assumptions about the features of creative industries expressed in the literature correspond to reality in less economically developed urban settings. The results show that creative industries in Riga display only some of the assumed characteristics, while assumptions such as high levels of innovation and growth used to advocate their importance could not be confirmed

Not from, but in, the same organisation::cooperation, collaboration and competition in creative coworking spaces

Increasingly more individuals are subject to project-based work arrangements that imply flexible and team work and a shift of any risk from the employer to the employee. Little is known about the social relationships of these workers, let alone about if and how socio-dynamic processes outside the traditional organization foster creativity and innovation. The present study investigates these processes in relation to cooperation, collaboration and competition in creative coworking spaces, which bring together autonomous workers within the boundaries of a shared environment. Based on traditional clustering theories, we develop the argument that coworking spaces, as microclusters of innovation, have the potential to leverage the cognitive proximity and absorptive capacity ofcoworkers, resulting in creative and novel ideas, while competition between creative coworkers can also be expected. The findings of our qualitative case study, which was conducted in the Netherlands, highlight that different socio-dynamic processes co-occur in coworking spaces and involve: (1) cooperative attitudes and behaviors, leading to a sense of community; (2) collaborations by way of preferred partnerships and, occasionally, start-ups; and (3) soft internal competition in the form of peer pressure and intra-industry microclusters that compete externally. The motivations and goals of workers are aligned through selection procedures, while trust and information exchanges reside in the community aspect of the coworking space. Even if workers are autonomous, the management of and the physical space in coworking have a significant impact on the aforementioned processes

International Change and technological evolution in the Fashion Industry

textabstractThe aim of this research is to sketch out the parameters of the fashion industry. Whilst, without doubt fashion is a means of personal and cultural expression, it is also an industry. The industrial and economic aspects have been relatively under-researched. We highlight the fact that the fashion industry is fast evolving, and growing. Traditional economic analyses have under-examined some of the crucial drivers of change in this sector but these are all important issues for a number of reasons. First, the local and global consequences of the transformation of the fashion industry help us to understand the challenges facing urban and regional economies, particularly in Europe. Second, the fashion industry, like the cultural industries more generally, is leading a new form of economic development that blends qualitative elements and quantitative forms, a culturalisation of economic action. In so doing we also raise three questions, one has already been alluded to: what is the ‘fashion industry’; and following this, a second: is the fashion industry the same, or different, to other cultural industries? Finally, in relation to the dynamics of change, we point to the role of situatedness: the importance of place and institutional embedding

A bizarre complication of shoulder arthroscopy

A case is presented of an unusual complication of shoulder arthroscopy, which was caused by incorrect location of the posterior portal, inducing neurapraxia of both the axillary and radial nerves, with significant clinical and functional sequelae. A subsequent open surgical neurolysis was required to restore normal nerve function. This type of lesion has not been reported previously