Affordable housing for the arts? Local housing markets, affordability and creative city strategies

Abstract

This article is triggered by a central policy problem: how to promote the 'creative city' for economic benefit, but without producing socially unjust outcomes. We propose one means to negotiate this problem - affordable housing for the arts - and draw briefly upon examples from Sydney and Seattle to illustrate our point. The role of creativity in the economy is becoming increasingly recognised. It is argued that places now compete with each other for a new kind of economic development, fuelled not by the availability of raw materials, cheap labour, or by state investment in infrastructure, but by the decisions of creative producers in industries such as film, design and advertising to live and work in particular localities. Such producers are part of what Richard Florida has called the 'creative class'. According to Florida, the creative class - flexible, hypermobile, and entrepreneurial - is now more than any other actively shaping the economy and demography of contemporary cities. The creative class moves to places that are tolerant, diverse, cosmopolitan and interesting, seeking art galleries and museums, cafe culture, festivals and events, and a social mix of immigrant communities, gay and lesbian culture, students and artists. Numerous places have since sought to build on Florida's ideas, developing policy initiatives aimed at growing the arts, promoting social diversity, and attracting creative producers and investments.