The Cultural Economy of Cities

TLDR

The article investigates how large cities contribute to the shift toward a global cultural economy. It develops an alternative view of the culture‑economy nexus by combining a theoretical critique of Allen Scott’s flagship model with case studies of the audiovisual sector in Hamburg and Lisbon. The study finds that the cultural‑economy relationship is not limited to master hubs but follows a non‑linear, historically rooted trajectory across cities and regions.

Abstract

This article examines the role that big cities play in an ongoing change towards a ‘global cultural economy’. Starting from Allen Scott’s argument that a handful of urban flagships may benefit from this shift, it looks for an alternative approach to the territorial dimension of the ‘culture-economy nexus’ based on a more complex understanding of urban culture. A broad theoretical discussion of Scott’s ideas, as well as on the key concepts of culture, economy and the city, is placed alongside two case studies of the development of the audiovisual (AV) media sector in two European metropolitan regions, Hamburg and Lisbon. The article concludes that the territorial dimension of the ‘culture-economy nexus’ is more than the mere concentration of culturally informed economic activity in a few urban ‘master hubs’. Rather, it can be characterized as a non-linear refracted shift, to a large extent moving along historically and culturally determined trajectories of cities and regions.