CREATIVE CLUSTERS IN BERLIN: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE QUALITY OF PLACE IN PRENZLAUER BERG AND KREUZBERG

Urban creative clusters are currently a major focus of attention, as their prominent position in both local political and academic circles makes evident. Many authors stress the importance of spatial concentration for creative industries. However, only a few studies have focused on the individual entrepreneur. As a result, empirical evidence of the meaning of urban place as a site for social networks and a space for inspiration is still scarce. This is of some consequence as entrepreneurs provide a crucial link between creative activities and economic change and development. This study contributes to the existing literature by investigating how different creative entrepreneurs choose and evaluate their location. Using qualitative interviews with entrepreneurs in two creative clusters in the Berlin neighbourhoods Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg, this article shows the significance of the look and feel of specific places and explains how and for whom local networks are important.     

Bounded at the driveway’s edge: body-space tensions encountered by children with mobility impairments in moving about the neighbourhood street

ABSTRACT

Research has shown the neighbourhood as an influential environment concerning children’s independent mobility and activity participation. However, its influence on the everyday experiences of children with disabilities is not well understood. This article addresses this gap by studying the accounts of ten nine-12 year olds from south-east Queensland, Australia, who have diverse mobility impairments. This phenomenological study reveals mobility is a conditional act. Conditionality is understood by the way social and spatial factors intersect to influence one’s mobility about the street – or in our case coerced immobility. The body-space practices also reveal a mismatch between children’s embodiment and the neighbourhood environment, which intensified and converged at the absent footpath, with crucial repercussions for their spatial agency and activity participation. The findings suggest the importance of understanding diverse body-space practices in mobility studies and the need to contest ableism in street design to create inclusive walkable neighbourhoods for all.     

What happened to adventurous young people and their cool places?

ABSTRACT

The essay is about ‘youth full’ change, the content of which is always partial and incomplete but it is always playful in the sense that it is generative and creative. That revolutionary playfulness emanates from young people suggests an important harbinger of change that is often dismissed or feared by adults. As the world moves along dystopian axes, we ignore this palpable energy and its potential at great cost.