Improbable Art: The Creative Economy and Sustainable Cluster Development in a Hong Kong Industrial District

A noted Singapore-based cultural geographer and specialist on Asia analyzes the emergence and functioning of a unique artistic cluster in Hong Kong's Fotan light industrial district. The objective of the research is to understand how artistic work in the cluster, despite some challenges, has thus far proven sustainable in cultural, social, and economic terms. The findings of this case study permit further clarification of several dimensions of an emerging theory of cultural/creative clusters, which should be considered as distinct from business and industrial clusters. Selective comparisons between the Fotan cluster and the Moganshan Lu cluster in Shanghai demonstrate that cultural/creative clusters do not face uniform challenges in striking a balance between economic and cultural sustainability.     

Mapping the arts: industry concentrations,distribution, and change in the US, 1980–2010

This paper studies arts industries in all 366 US metropolitan statistical areas between 1980 and 2010. Our analysis provides evidence that the arts are an important component of many regional economies, but also highlights their volatility. After radical growth and diffusion between 1980 and 2000, in the last decade, the arts industries are defined more by shrinkage and reconcentration in fewer metropolitan areas. Further, we find that the vast majority of metros have strengths in particular sets of arts industries. As we discuss in the conclusion, these conditions present challenges and opportunities for urban cultural policy that goes beyond the current focus on the arts as consumption amenities.     

A generational attitude: young adults facing the economic crisis in Milan

Abstract

For almost 10 years there has been talk of the economic crisis affecting the European area, with more evident effects in the Mediterranean countries. Yet the expression ‘economic crisis’ has become too wide and blurred to be useful for describing how the current socio-economic conjuncture is affecting different categories of young people in different ways. Precariousness and reduced job opportunities, with their consequences for social mobility, constitute only the more explicit and raw evidence of the lived experience of the crisis among young people. Although families remain the all-solving institution, the consequences of the crisis are diversified according to the economic, cultural and social capital of each individual, to gender and generation position, and to subjective and contextualized perceptions. This article presents research conducted to investigate how young people living in the urban area of Milan locate, react, readapt and reinvent themselves in the present economic context by analysing their aspirations, expectations and practices. We develop a comparative analysis of the main structural bias (gender, education, social class position) in order to shed light on the effects and perceptions of the crisis among young people in the city of Milan.     

文化经济与城市经济发展的关系分析

城市是人类社会经济文化活空间的投影,是经济活动和文化活动最为频繁,文化经济最为发达的地理空间,对城市的文化经济与城市经济发展之间的关系进行分析具有较高的典型性和针对性。本文从文化与经济本质上具有的共生性入手,简单叙述了文化与与经济一体化发展趋势的必然性,进而归纳了文化经济对于城市经济发展的重要意义:促进经济增长,提高经济效益,软化经济基础,优化经济结构,促进经济的协调稳定发展等几个方面,文章第三部分对文化与经济相互融合的状态进行划分并概括为从三个层次,文章最城市是人类社会经济文化活空间的投影,是经济活动和文化活动最为频繁,文化经济最为发达的地理空间,对城市的文化经济与城市经济发展之间的关系进行分析具有较高的典型性和针对性。本文从文化与经济本质上具有的共生性入手,简单叙述了文化与与经济一体化发展趋势的必然性,进而归纳了文化经济对于城市经济发展的重要意义:促进经济增长,提高经济效益,软化经济基础,优化经济结构,促进经济的协调稳定发展等几个方面,文章第三部分对文化与经济相互融合的状态进行划分并概括为从三个层次,文章最后通过解析文化经济与经济发展的相对平衡关系,提出了在发展经济过程中,应不失时机地对文化经济的发展进行必要的引导和规划的观点。     

基于文化创意产业的历史街区提升改造研究——以南锣鼓巷为例

本文以南锣鼓巷为例,剖析了基于文化创意产业的历史街区改造与提升方式。分析结果显示:在历史街区发展文化创意产业是一种新型的改造与提升方式,二者关系密切,互利共生;发展文化创意产业需以不破坏历史街区风貌为前提,主要应该注意开店位置、扰民现象、墙体的颜色、门窗的颜色及质地、遮阳棚放置、空调等、灯光强度等因素;发展本地文化为主要创意来源的文化创意产业是避免\"千城一面\"的绝佳途径,不仅可以传承保护当地文化特色传统,还可以有效避免其他城市或地区的抄袭和复制。     

Youth,gangs and violence: Analysing the social and spatial mobility of young people in Guatemala City

Youth gangs have become an increasingly significant, and controversial, social institution in low-income communities in many cities in Central America, and yet the local-level impacts of this phenomenon, especially on young people, remain under-explored. Drawing on research with young people in Guatemala City, this paper explores the multiple barriers to the social and spatial mobility of both gang and non-gang members resulting from gang violence. It also examines how young men and women cope with violence, and, given the severe impacts of gang activity on young people, highlights the pressing need for social alternatives to gangs.     

How do Migrant Workers Respond to Labour Abuses in “Local Sweatshops”?

This article aims to provide empirical evidence on understanding how migrant workers’ responses to labour exploitation in low‐wage economies are articulated. Inspired by the low levels of conflict among workers in small urban sweatshops in Italy and Argentina, we ask ourselves what contextual and subjective factors prevent workers from organising collectively. Here we argue that in order to understand the nature of their responses, it is necessary to consider not only the organisation of the labour process, but also the class divisions within migrant communities. We also bring in briefly the role of the state in (mis)regulating migrant labour exploitation. We conclude by showing that workers’ responses are highly individualised and that community leaders with economic interests in sweatshop economies may play a role in securing their continuation by channelling the workers’ responses towards the defence of the “ethnic economy”.     

中国文化现代化与东亚合作

本文尝试将中国文化现代化与东亚合作议题结合起来进行整体性思考,以探讨区域文化传统的传承、大众文化与文化产业合作以及有益于共同利益的、面向未来的文化共同体建构。首先,提出了观察和思考中国文化现代化路径的三个维度:民族本源、地区基础和全球视野。其次,梳理了东亚文化传统的同质性内容和共同演进逻辑,讨论了以东亚文化传统为基石构建面向未来的文化共同体的可能性。其三,以全球范围内的文化同质化趋势为背景,提出应立足东亚三国文化产业领域的既有优势、合作基础和共同市场,构造一条成熟有序的大众文化生产与传播链条。     

论我国国民经济创造力的提升

国民经济创造力是生产力的核心。三次产业革命证明：在民主制度建立、实行自由经济体制、保障个人权利以及促进教育事业发展的条件下,国民经济创造力就得以开发和发挥。因此,我国必须坚持走改革开放的道路,促进国民经济创造力的形成和提升。