The Power of Place: A Case Study of Auckland’s Design Creative Industries

Lydia Kiroff

doi:10.1155/2017/8952965

Abstract

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city which also has the largest concentration of creative sector employment and businesses in the country. This study examines the spatial logic of firms in the design creative subsector in inner Auckland to gain better understanding of the ways in which place, space, and built form determine location choices. Firms’ attributes are also analysed with the aim of ascertaining whether firms with shared characteristics have similar spatial behaviour. Despite a high degree of spatial clustering, the unequal distribution of firms across inner Auckland suggests that some areas, such as Parnell, are favoured more than others. Parnell’s unique heritage built environment was identified as a location factor that has appealed to architects, designers, and advertisers and has contributed to the formation of the area’s creative clusters. The quality of Parnell’s built environment was associated with place reputation and image branding which was an important part of creating firm’s identity. A central location and the attractiveness of an amenities-rich local environment also played a role in the decision-making process. Furthermore, the results also suggest that firms that possess common characteristics have similar spatial logic and make similar location choices.

Highlights

The area is a suburban entity that does not quite appreciate how significant the creative industries are till its creative economy
The findings of this study suggest that firms that possess common characteristics have similar spatial logic and make similar location choices
Parnell’s unique built environment is a location factor that has appealed to architects, designers, and advertisers and has contributed to the formation of the area’s creative clusters

Summary

Introduction

“Creative sector a big star in New Zealand economy.” This was how a recent headline in The New Zealand Herald hailed the emergence of the creative industries as a great success in the New Zealand national economy. The article went on to describe the growing importance of the creative sector to the New Zealand economy in terms of job creation and its significant contribution to the country’s GDP. Behind this headline is a more complex story concerning the rise of creative sector in helping to reshape the broader economy, and its impact in those locations where it has become a growing presence. In New Zealand, this has been a story about the emergence of Auckland, in particular, as the epicentre of this growth within a revitalised inner city economy Such developments do not operate in a spatial vacuum. Vorley et al [20] emphasize the need for adopting an empirical approach able to deliver new empirical evidence to test existing presumptions and models when studying the creative industries Microlevel sectoral case studies of creative production clusters prove useful in providing detailed data and hard evidence illuminating complex issues [21]

Background

Research Approach and Methods

Findings and Discussion

Conclusions