Cities of Russia 2030: Crossroads of Opportunities Plenary 15th November 2017 Cities and Creative Industries

Cultural and Creative Industries

Why Cultural/ Creative Industries in Cities? Historically sites of innovation and transformation. Centres of power, knowledge Nodes for exchange and flows

Why Cities? Global economy about networks and flows – of capital, information, goods and services, people, ideas, images Cities key nodes and command centres in global networks.

Why Cities? Produce and process knowledge and information; Harness R&D to new business opportunities; Generate new skills and entrepreneurial energy; Provide complex division of labour and institutional mix of dynamic post-industrial city.

Why CCI in Cities? CCIs held possibilities for de-industrialising cities – where innovation, entrepreneurialism, and local vision were key. They could contribute to: Employment and wealth Regeneration effects (property) Image/ Brand effects – ‘buzz’ Sense of vibrancy and cultural richness Catalyse wider creativity and innovation New role for subsidised art and culture

Cultural/ Creative Industries Creativity, innovation, competitiveness Flexible, responsive, user-driven Complex mix of large and small companies; Clusters and networks– ideas, information, support, trust

‘Commodified Cultural Production’ (Alan Scott) High levels of human input: Clusters of small companies operating on a project basis; Dense flows of information, goods and services; Benefits from economies of scale in skills sourcing and know-how; Complex divisions of labour (driven especially by new ICT developments) tying people to places

Why Some Cities and Not Others? We do not live in a “flat world” but one of multiple spikes Global Cultural Cities much bigger than their smaller neighbours “Winner Takes all”

Why Cities?: Traded Interdependencies Reduce costs through proximity by supporting networks that provide access to key supplies and skilled labour. (Externalities – Theories of the firm)

Untraded Interdependencies The circulation of knowhow, and the rules, norms, and institutional practices that define an industrial field. These conditions enable cultural production by bringing together complementary firms and people to provide opportunities for information and resource exchange and exposure to alternative ideas and practices, which propel product innovations and new production processes.

Untraded Interdependencies Michael Storper (1997) “externalities” which "take the form of conventions, informal rules, and habits that coordinate economic actors under conditions of uncertainty. These relations constitute region-specific assets in production", "a central form of scarcity in contemporary capitalism", ... and "of geographical differentiation in what is done, how it is done, and in the resulting wealth levels and growth rates of regions.” The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy.

Why some cities not others? Embeddedness Tacit knowledge Traditions Institutions ‘Atmosphere’ Local identity Urbanity

Specifics of Place Path dependency and institutional/ evolutionary economics Histories: of governance; industries and skills; families, colleagues and friends; beliefs and cultures; ‘structures of feeling’.

Creative/ cultural Industries: Challenges Definition – what is not creative: software/ design? Economic rationale crowds out the cultural Failure to take care of socio-cultural milieu Winner takes all accelerating (FAANG/ Alibaba, Tencent) Financialisation accelerates Gentrification Innovation capture by management/ investors Challenges to Transnational Working Creative work: Conditions and wages - squeezed

Culture and Cities Culture is distinct sphere of public policy – it should not be asked to justify itself primarily or exclusively in terms of its contribution to economic development. In addition to new cultural/ cultural industry policy settings, need new robust language of cultural value for cities and their citizens.