ABSTRACT
In his seminal work in the field of creativity, diversity and the economic advantage of cities, Richard Florida (2003: 5) argues that creativity – the ability to create meaningful new forms – ‘is now the decisive source of competitive advantage’ (emphasis in original). In his studies of the economic importance of creativity, the social dimensions of the creative class (2003) and creative cities (2005), Florida does not give much weight to the impact of immigration (2005: 40), although he develops and evaluates a Melting Pot index and argues that a cosmopolitan city is more likely to be tolerant of strangers (2005: 6). He concedes (2003: 227) that diversity (including ethnic diversity) means ‘excitement’ and ‘energy’: ‘Creativeminded people enjoy a mix of influences. They want to hear different kinds of music and try different kinds of food.’ (This search for difference is also explored by Hannigan in Chapter 3 and Maitland in Chapter 5 of this volume.) While Florida does not make an explicit link between cities open to immigration and the development of the creative class (2003: 254-55), his general approach implies that there should be some link between ethnic diversity and creativity in major centres of immigation (e.g. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago in the USA, and Toronto, Vancouver, Paris, London etc. in other countries). This issue seems worthy of examination in more detail.
