Creative cities and/or sustainable cities: Discourses and practices

Abstract

This article examines the intercept of the notions of creative city and sustainability, aiming at conceptual clarifications of debates on combining these topics and related urban policies. Firstly it explores the emergence of creative city’s discourses and practices and their significance, then the conditions of sustainability of the urban development, and finally the arts’ role in achieving urban creativity and sustainable development. While acknowledging the importance of the environmental-ecological aspect, the focus of this article is on the social and cultural aspects of sustainability in the development of creative cities. The main argument is that different approaches to the issues of creativity and sustainability as well as different strategies for developing the sustainable creative city depend not only on various levels of urban space and agents considered but also on values they share. While claims to scientific objectivity are common, most approaches towards these issues are not merely descriptive but necessarily normative. Therefore, the ideological assumptions and implications of these topics are relevant. The debate is exemplified by Scott’s polemical meditation versus Florida on the nature and significance of the creative city, highlighting not only its positive but also its “darker”, i.e., non-sustainable dimensions. The article concludes by showing that the creative city concept does not only re-produce the dominant market order (as it is the dominant objective today) but could instead relate to communal identity, social belongingness, and a deeper sense of place as formulated by the broader demands of sustainability.