1 Concept and context of the creative economy
Box 1.1 continued
A creative entrepreneur: Transforming ideas into successful business
William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, one of the biggest companies in software services and business solutions in the world. When Microsoft began in 1975, Mr. Gates and Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, immediately recognized the implications of the microprocessor and its potential to revolutionize the information and communication technology. In 1981, I.B.M. selected the fledgling company to be the main supplier of operating systems for its first PC – Microsoft's first big step towards defining the software standards of the PC industry. Its Windows operating systems and Office productivity programmes are the dominant PC software. Microsoft had revenues of $51.12 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2007 and employs more than 78,000 people in 105 countries and regions. In addition, Mr. Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual arts information – a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe. He and his wife, Melinda, have endowed a foundation to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and education. Sources: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/books/default.mspx http://www.gatesfoundation.org/MediaCenter/Speeches/Co-ChairSpeeches/BillgSpeeches/BGSpeechHarvard-070607.htm http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/bill_gates/index.html?inline=nyt-per
By Carolina Quintana, UNCTAD secretariat.
1.1.9
Creative cities
The idea of a creative economy has also been applied specifically to the economy of cities, leading to the emergence of the concept of a “creative city”. This term describes an urban complex where cultural activities of various sorts are an integral component of the city’s economic and social functioning. Such cities tend to be built upon a strong social and cultural infrastructure, to have relatively high concentrations of creative employment, and to be attractive to inward investment because of their well-established cultural facilities. Charles Landry, in his seminal work on the concept of the creative city, argues that cities have one crucial resource: their people. Creativity is replacing location, natural resources and market access as a principal key to urban dynamism. Landry points out that, “Today many of the world’s cities face periods of transition largely brought about by the vigour of renewed globalization. These transitions vary from region to region. In areas such as Asia, cities are growing while in others, such as Europe, old industries are disappearing and the value added in cities is created less through what is manufactured and more through intellectual capital applied to products, processes and services”.19
19
12
Landry (2000: xiii).
C R E AT I V E E C O N O M Y R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
Creative cities use their creative potential in various ways. Some function as nodes for generating cultural experiences for inhabitants and visitors through the presentation of their cultural heritage assets or through their cultural activities in the performing and visual arts. Some, such as Bayreuth, Edinburgh or Salzburg, use festivals that shape the identity of the whole city. Others look to broader cultural and media industries to provide employment and incomes and to act as centres for urban and regional growth. In other cases, a more pervasive role for culture in the creative city rests on the capacity of the arts and culture to foster urban liveability, social cohesion and cultural identity. The contribution of the creative sector to the economic vitality of cities can be measured in terms of the direct contribution of the sector to output, value added, incomes and employment and further through the indirect and induced effects caused, for example, by the expenditures of tourists visiting the city to experience its cultural attractions. In addition, cities with an active cultural life can attract inward investment in other industries seeking to locate in centres that will provide an enjoyable, stimulating environment for employees.