Place is what we think with

The title of this chapter is derived from a poem by one of Britain’s outstanding poets, Roy Fisher (1994), which starts: ‘Birmingham’s what I think with’. That captures the theme of this chapter very succinctly, as I shall show in a moment. But, first, let us be clear what this chapter is not about. It’s not about the idea that creative people need space. Nor is it about the idea that, ‘new ideas need new space’ because they conflict with existing orthodoxies, or because innovators locate apart from the cluster to avoid risk of information loss. ¹ The chapter is about the idea that, even if space loses one part of its economic meaning through globalisation, it may acquire another economic meaning. With the growth of globalisation, place may no longer be the source of economic distinction that it was in the past. However, traders may find new sources of competitive distinction from their spatial history.