Cultural quarters as a means of enhancing the creative capacity of Polish cities? Some evidence from Cracow

Culture-oriented activities conducted by diverse actors in selected urban areas may lead to the formation of unique quarters of production and consumption of cultural goods and services which function both as creative hubs and leisure spaces. Such cultural quarters may develop spontaneously or as a result of official designation and major public investment. Referring to the debate on cultural quarters in Western Europe, this article aims to examine the issue of the spatial concentration of cultural and creative activities within a selected large city in Poland. The author analyses recent transformations of two historic quarters in Cracow (Kazimierz and Podgórze) and considers the extent to which both areas can be regarded as successful cultural quarters. She describes their emergence and the changes observed in them in terms of groupings, character and number of creative-sector firms established there, pondering whether their role is limited to a function as centres of commercial cultural entertainment and night-life consumption, or whether they indeed stimulate the development of a creative economy

Young artists and the development of artistic quarters in Polish cities

The phenomenon of artistic quarters has been explored by many researchers interested in the spatial behaviours of artists in North American and Western European cities. Their analyses have often focused on the impact of this occupational group on transformations of selected urban areas: the arrival of artists as pioneers in degraded, problem neighbourhoods and the evolution of those neighbourhoods, which then attract more established artists, followed by creative professionals and non-creative gentrifiers. As over time the built environment, functions, cultural, gastronomic offer and ambiance of such areas change significantly, their progressive mainstreaming and commercialization prompt some artists to venture into new districts and spaces. The article first offers a review of existing findings with respect to artistic quarters and their transformations. The discussion of the possible stages of development of artistic quarters present in literature is followed by the application of this theoretical framework in the context of Polish cities using the examples of Krakow and Katowice. These significant regional capitals represent two major types of urban centres in Poland: a city with medieval roots, and a city which emerged during the 19th-century industrialisation process. The phases of evolution of the artistic quarters in both cities are analysed by examining the spatial perceptions of students of artistic majors. The analysis shows that the transformations of urban spaces in terms of their functions and perceptions as artistic quarters are not as straightforward and linear as earlier studies might suggest. Krakow’s more vibrant artistic life and its historic, concentric urban structure, combined with strong commercial pressures, are conducive to the development of new artistic quarters, although its traditional city centre continues to some extent to maintain its position on the artistic map of the city. In contrast, in Katowice the chaotic spatial structure of the heart of this historic industrial region makes the flow of artists more difficult and less likely, as they tend to concentrate in a poorly delineated area of the inner city. In addition, as the case studies reveal, spatial choices of artists are not only dependent on a city’s development path and its built environment but are also to a significant extent shaped by the diverse artistic backgrounds of its creatives and a host of factors linked with post-socialist transformation and neoliberal urban policies

Economic and spatial strategies of artists as cultural entrepreneurs

The text aims to explore the economic and spatial strategies followed by artists who run micro-firms. The authors analyse results of a qualitative study of independent artist enterprises in Kraków. It reveals that motivations for artistic entrepreneurship are diverse and foremost linked with the need to overcome challenges artists experience in the labour market and in the market for cultural goods and services. Different strategies translate into particular location choices as well as varied visibility of such firms in urban space

Zróżnicowanie postaw etnocentrycznych polskich konsumentów odzieży

Clothing and sartorial choices are an important way and means of expressing identities and worldviews. Based on the results of the author’s survey of a representative sample of Polish population conducted in 2022, the aim of the article is to show to what extent contemporary Polish fashion consumers use clothing to express ethnocentric attitudes. In addition to economic ethnocentrism most often analysed so far with respect to preferences for domestically produced goods, other possible forms of fashion ethnocentrism are highlighted, proposing their typology. Both ‘creative ethnocentrism’ related to attaching importance to the location of the design process and the nationality of the designers, and ‚symbolic ethnocentrism’, where the creative and symbolic content communicated by design is important, relating to the national (so-called patriotic garments), or local and regional scale of expressing identity (folk costumes, garments with ethnic inspirations) were considered. The study examines to what extent fashion consumers pay attention to whether the clothes they buy are designed and manufactured in Poland, and to what extent clothing inspired by culture and cultural heritage and is present in Polish wardrobes. The determinants of the diversity of attitudes and behaviours of the Polish population in this respect are also discussed, taking into account various socio-demographic characteristics. In conclusions four groups of consumers with a different focus and extent of expressing ethnocentric attitudes were identified.Strój i wybory odzieżowe są ważnym wyznacznikiem i sposobem wyrażania tożsamości oraz przekonań. Celem artykułu, opartego na wynikach badań ankietowych przeprowadzonych w 2022 r. na reprezentatywnej próbie mieszkańców Polski, jest pokazanie, w jakim stopniu współcześni polscy konsumenci odzieży wykorzystują ubiór do wyrażania postaw etnocentrycznych. Oprócz najczęściej jak dotąd analizowanego patriotyzmu konsumenckiego związanego z preferencjami nabywania dóbr krajowej produkcji zaproponowano typologię innych form etnocentryzmu odzieżowego. Uwzględniono zarówno „etnocentryzm kreatywny”, odnoszący się do umiejscowienia procesu projektowania odzieży i pochodzenia tworzących ją projektantów, jak i „etnocentryzm symboliczny”, w przypadku którego istotne są treści kreatywne i symboliczne komunikowane przez wzornictwo, odnoszące się do narodowej (odzież patriotyczna) lub lokalnej i regionalnej skali wyrażania tożsamości (stroje ludowe, etnodizajn). Stwierdzono następnie, w jakim stopniu nabywcy zwracają uwagę na to, czy kupowane przez nich ubrania są zaprojektowane i wyprodukowane w Polsce, a także w jakim zakresie obecna jest w szafach Polaków odzież odwołująca się do kultury i dziedzictwa kulturowego. Pokazano uwarunkowania zróżnicowania postaw i zachowań mieszkańców Polski w tym względzie, biorąc pod uwagę ich cechy społeczno-demograficzne. W części końcowej wyróżniono cztery grupy konsumentów o różnym stopniu identyfikacji z zaproponowanymi postawami etnocentrycznymi

Sustainability by Polish designers – owners of small, independent fashion brands

Implementing sustainable development goals defined by UNESCO encompasses diverse activities and spheres of contemporary life, including the issues of responsible production and consumption (goal 12). The fashion sector is often mentioned in this context and considered both ethically and environmen[1]tally problematic, especially taking into account clothing overproduction coupled with decreasing of its quality and offshoring to non -European countries. Fashion designers – owners of independent fashion brands based in specific local contexts – seem to be especially well prepared to implement in practice the idea of sustainable fashion often also referred to as responsible, ethical or slow fashion. The paper presents results of a qualitative exploratory research among Polish small, independent fashion firms. Analysing in -depth interviews with creative entrepreneurs based in different parts of Poland (Kraków, Łódź, Bytom, Warsaw, other cities and towns), the investigation considers issues such as: how do they understand the concept of sustainable fashion, how do they implement it in their entrepreneurial activities, what challenges and opportunities do they see in this respect, especially taking into account that their entrepreneurial activities situate them between the more symbolic -economy oriented creative sector and the more practically -oriented traditional garment and apparel sector

Conceptual export and theory mobilities: exploring the reception and development of the “creative city thesis” in the post-socialist urban realm

This paper addresses the limited contribution of scholarship from within/on the post-socialist urban arena to global urban studies, a phenomenon attributed to the influence of a hegemonic Anglo-American academic complex. We seek to present a more nuanced account by considering scholarship on the “creative city” in a post-socialist context. A numerical analysis of English language publications confirms the lack of impact of scholarship from/on post-socialist areas, though we do identify literature which may be “theory exporting” and emphasize the temporal dimension of the development of scholarship. We then consider the interaction of three global mobilities to present a more nuanced account of this pattern – the “creative city” thesis as globally mobile urban policy, the neoliberalization of universities as a globally mobile restructuring of the context in which these inequalities in knowledge-production are produced, and urban studies theorizing itself as a set of globally mobile concepts and practices. We therefore explore the dynamic interaction of a particular urban phenomenon (“creative city” policy) with academic knowledge production. Adopting this perspective allows us to emphasize other factors such as path dependencies within post-socialist areas and to give due emphasis to agency within the region and how these interact with global processes of neoliberalizing academia

Cultural quarters as a means of enhancing the creative capacity of Polish cities? Some evidence from Cracow

Culture-oriented activities conducted by diverse actors in selected urban areas may lead to the formation of unique quarters of production and consumption of cultural goods and services which function both as creative hubs and leisure spaces. Such cultural quarters may develop spontaneously or as a result of official designation and major public investment. Referring to the debate on cultural quarters in Western Europe, this article aims to examine the issue of the spatial concentration of cultural and creative activities within a selected large city in Poland. The author analyses recent transformations of two historic quarters in Cracow (Kazimierz and Podgórze) and considers the extent to which both areas can be regarded as successful cultural quarters. She describes their emergence and the changes observed in them in terms of groupings, character and number of creative-sector firms established there, pondering whether their role is limited to a function as centres of commercial cultural entertainment and night-life consumption, or whether they indeed stimulate the development of a creative economy