ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the diverse factors shaping the spatiality of the cultural economy in the contemporary city, and more specifically with the extraordinary qualities of complexity, transience and fluidity observed in the experience of many cities. In many modern cities, spaces of cultural production and performance are viewed as fragments of the urban whole, as the city is mostly given over to more prosaic domains of industry, commerce and housing. The spatial complexity is shaped by the confluence of historical trajectories of urban economic development. The chapter describes the legacies of industrialization and the postindustrial political agenda, including the (re)production of the heritage landscapes and built environment. The spatial expressions of industrialization have constituted an integral feature of economic theorists and urban studies scholars since Alfred Marshall's concept of the industrial district enunciated over a century ago. Firms co-located within industrial districts to enjoy the benefits of agglomeration economies, including proximate labour and material inputs.
