Is the Creative Class a Game Changer in Cities? A Socioeconomic Study on Romania

Karima Kourtit,Alina Maria Pavelea,Bogdana Neamțu,Peter Nijkamp

doi:10.3390/su13115807

Abstract

In the wake of current urbanization trends, Creative Class theory has gained much popularity. According to the theory, in order to achieve sustainable socioeconomic growth and citizens’ well-being, cities have to attract the Creative Class, who prefer places that simultaneously provide amenities such as tolerance, talent, technology, and territorial assets (the four Ts). Although the theory has been tested extensively in the USA and in Western European countries, few attempts have been made to study it in Eastern Europe. As such, this paper tests Creative Class theory in the case of Romania, which is an interesting country for this study, since it has a relatively low level of urbanization and the population is less mobile compared to Western countries. Our results show that talent, technology, and territorial assets are able to significantly explain the geographical concentration of the Creative Class. However, different types of tolerance have different effects on the concentration of the Creative Class. Nevertheless, when we control for conventional socioeconomic welfare variables, the results change. The variable that has the highest effect on welfare patterns is path-dependency, namely, the previous level of regional and urban welfare registered. Thus, this paper reflects the need for both researchers and practitioners to consider the path-dependency trajectories of socioeconomic health and well-being in urban areas.

Highlights

Published: 21 May 2021In a recent study on ‘urban empires’ Glaeser et al [1] posit that the welfare profile of cities and urban agglomerations does not follow a rectilinear trajectory, but is dependent on a wide range of background factors
Given the fact that Florida argues that cities are the most important actors in the global economy [1], we examined the relationships in the case of two categories of cities, namely the 103 municipalities from Romania and the 41 county capitals, which represent all of the largest cities
The first step in examining the relationships proposed by the theory is to investigate the extent to which talent, tolerance, technology, and territorial assets explain the concentration of the Creative Class

Summary

Introduction

In a recent study on ‘urban empires’ Glaeser et al [1] posit that the welfare profile of cities and urban agglomerations does not follow a rectilinear trajectory, but is dependent on a wide range of background factors. Determinants of the complex dynamics of urban systems may include adaptivity; geopolitical turmoil; entrepreneurship; open-mindedness for new opportunities; place-based Human Capital reflected, inter alia, in educational profiles; medical health care; social capital; innovativeness and creativity [2]. In recent years, one factor has often been regarded as a major successful determinant of innovative and sustainable urban growth, viz. The concept of the Creative Class has often been embraced as an innovative strategy for gaining a new momentum for a sustainable, healthy and happy future of cities, it has been contested on various grounds. Controversies have arisen, inter alia, around (1) its operational definition (e.g., in terms of the individual or sectorial level of actors, the educational substratum for creativity, and the unjustified belief in the real role of creativity in a professional business environment etc.); (2) the urban seedbed

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