Creative Multiplicities: Urban Morphologies of Creative Clustering

Abstract

While the geography of 'creative cities' is widely explored, the urban morphology of creative clustering within cities is relatively ignored. This paper excavates the morphological properties and capacities of creative clustering through Australian case studies with a series of mappings informed by assemblage theory. Such clusters are characterized by synergies that emerge from a 'mix of mixes' - a mixed morphology linked to a multiplicity of functions (production, exchange, reproduction, recreation) and socioeconomic mix. The 'buzz' or 'atmosphere' of a creative cluster is the emergent effect produced through an intensive co-functioning of people, practices, identities, spaces and built forms.