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

A Spotlight on: Sustainable fashion in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is at the forefront of sustainable development and circular economy. Numerous Dutch-based civil-society organizations and consultancies have been active in helping companies and designers to go green while at the same time increasing consumer awareness about sustainability. Dutch education institutions have also an important role in fostering future designers and entrepreneurs to embrace sustainability in all its aspects (e.g. NWO-KIEM project “Behind the scenes in Dutch fashion; Bridging the gap between independent fashion designers, craftsmen and fashion intermediaries”, "What’s Next? The Future of the Fashion Industry" and "Pioneers in Fashion: Better and Greener" by Erasmus University Rotterdam, Arts and Culture Department, Creating 010 and Het Nieuwe Instituut). The chapter discusses three interrelated main trends to distinguish the approaches to sustainability by Dutch fashion designers and brands

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

An Expensive, Confusing, and Ineffective Suit of Armor: Investigating Risks of Design Piracy and Perceptions of the Design Rights Available to Emerging Fashion Designers in the Digital Age

The fashion industry is digitizing, enabling faster creation, production, distribution, and consumption, as well as design piracy, but the structures that exist to support and protect designers are yet to adapt to these developments. There is much debate about the rampant piracy within the sector and its impact upon fashion businesses. However, there is little academic research regarding piracy’s effect upon emerging fashion designers. This study investigates: (1) the risk of piracy; (2) perceptions of the registered and unregistered design rights available to fashion designers, considering the case of UK-based emerging fashion designers; and (3) how the risk of piracy and design rights impact fashion designers’ strategies in online and offline environments. Employing qualitative analysis, we argue that significant ignorance and low usage levels render the design rights available to UK designers irrelevant. Furthermore, we suggest that emerging designers are hesitant to digitize their businesses due to concerns surrounding the protection of their products. This is reflected in the growing interest in sustainable textiles and local production, which may be employed to circumvent threats of piracy

Letter from the Editors: The Past and Present of Fashion Cities

In the past decade or so, discussion has increasingly addressed the need to rip apart the idea of a single fashion history stemming from Europe and North America which opened up with the outsourcing of the postwar period (Ling, Lorusso, and Segre Reinach 2019). Research has presented an open perspective, engaging with fashion beyond the boundaries of the traditional fashion capitals, considering skills, specialisms and placemaking strategies, fostered in diverse locations across the globe (Breward and Gilbert 2006; Skov 2011; Brydges, Hracs, and Lavanga 2018). Fashion affects elites and non-elites; cities in core and periphery areas alike. Furthermore, the structure of the fashion industry has varied from historical period to historical period and between cities, regions, and nations (Breward and Gilbert 2006; Rantisi 2004). The industry is composed of complex transnational supply chains which encompass textile and clothing manufacturing, the organization of temporary clusters like trade shows and fashion weeks, and (digital) media management (Skov 2006; Rocamora 2017; Wubs and Maillet 2017; Blaszczyk and Wubs 2018; Lavanga 2018; Huang and Janssens 2019). While scholars across the globe have enriched the geography of fashion by studying locations beyond the “big four,” there remains a need for better understanding of fashion centers from global and evolutionary perspectives. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, combining business history, economic history, fashion studies and economic geography, this special issue aims to present a burgeoning perspective. It focuses on the spatial and transnational dimensions of the industry, taking a long-term historical perspective—from Paris in the late nineteenth century to Turin and London in the early-mid twentieth century—while also providing provocations addressing how we could define and study fashion cities. As business historians and economic geographers, we are cautious to predict the future, but clearly, the rise of China as an economic superpower may create a cultural shift that could affect the power structure of the fashion industry. China is no longer the global sweatshop. It has become the largest consumer market of the world with a significant interest in fashion and luxury, complemented by an increasing number of domestic fashion designers and brands (Ling and Segre Reinach 2018). Chinese brands excel in their domestic market but often have not expanded fully in the West, likely as it is not necessary. Shanghai’s recent endeavors to become one of the fashion capitals of the world are closely linked to the global shifts of the industry, and the rise of China’s star. Perhaps the re-bundling of the symbolic and material aspects of fashion, along with the restructuring of unsustainable global production networks would create new chances for old and new fashion capitals alike. This, in turn, begs the question of whether we should still think in terms of fashion capitals and cities. Should we rather explore the interrelation of diverse fashion systems and digital spaces, which may, in turn, change our understanding of not just fashion places, but also of fashion itself