Creative city policy in the context of urban asymmetry

Abstract

This article provides an overview of local governments’ opportunities to utilise creative city thinking in their local development policy. The aim is to shed light on how creative city approaches relate to structural urban asymmetry, i.e. how structural factors condition local governments’ efforts to translate creative city theories into urban development policies. For the analysis ideal types of creative city approaches are constructed to be analysed from a structural perspective. In the empirical part, three growth-oriented approaches of these ideal types – community, business and institutionally oriented creative city policies – are discussed by presenting three cases of Finnish creative communities, those of Helsinki, Tampere and Kaustinen. Analysis reveals that structural conditions affect the critical mass and resilience rather than the range of tools applied to creative city policy. Structural conditions are particularly relevant through their resonances in governance and policy outcomes and making synergetic specialisation possible.