Understanding Creative Cities

This interdisciplinary book adopts a multi-level approach to understanding creative cities. David Emanuel Andersson draws on concepts of cultural individualism, generators of diversity and openness to experience to inform policy recommendations.

Andersson utilises a micro-meso-macro framework to examine creative cities, providing illustrative case studies from fields including geography, economics, political science and urban planning. At the micro level, he explores personality traits and environmental stimuli; at the meso level, neighbourhood attributes; and at the macro level, cultural values and institutions. Chapters also consider spatial design across each level of the framework and are informed by the contributions of Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl. Ultimately, the author underscores the importance of smaller, intimate spaces and fragmented, decentralized planning in the cultivation of adaptability, creativity and bottom-up entrepreneurship.

Understanding Creative Cities will be greatly beneficial to scholars and students of human geography, urban design, urban planning, urban studies and the social sciences, including economics, politics and sociology. It is also a vital resource for city and municipal policymakers and urban planners interested in cultivating creative cities.