Agglomeration, Differentiation and Creative Milieux: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Location Behaviour of Creative Enterprises in Shanghai

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study on the location choice of creative enterprises in Shanghai. It is suggested that categorical differences between different subsectors of creative industries are significant, especially with regard to a division between technology-intensive sectors and culture-related agencies. Creative enterprises from technology-intensive sectors such as architecture design and IT enterprises appear to differ greatly from cultural and fashion related agencies in location choice due to the disaggregated knowledge inputs involved in the production processes, as well as the divergences in market operation. Meanwhile, this study suggests that some location variables for creative industries (e.g. human capital and face-to-face contact) highlighted by West-based studies on the “creative class” are relevant in the case of Shanghai while other factors like sexual tolerance bear minor importance.

本文基于对上海创意产业地理区位选择的实证研究。研究表明，创意产业不同分支存在显著的类别差异，技术密集部门和文化相关机构的差异尤为明显。技术密集部门的创意企业，如建筑设计和IT企业，和文化、时尚相关的机构，由于其生产过程的知识投入不同，市场运营也不一样，因此会分别选择不同的地理区位。本研究还显示，西方“创意阶层”研究中强调的创意产业的某些区位变量（如人力资本和面对面交流），在上海同样重要，但另一些变量，如性宽容度，在上海则不太重要

Keywords:

• Creative industries
• urban milieux
• knowledge-based approach
• location behaviour

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

The research was supported by China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the Kurt-Hiehle-Foundation from Heidelberg University. We wish to express our sincere acknowledgment to Ms Sima Gatea, who assisted with language improvement. An appreciation is also given to the anonymous reviewers who provided constrictive suggestions for the revision of this paper.

Notes

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Corrigendum (https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2018.1442148).

1. Notably, the dichotomy of knowledge that distinguishes tacit knowledge from explicit is also well recognised in economic geography since it is very important in shaping industrial clusters with a proximity effect (Markusen 1996, Maskell 2001, Bathelt et al. 2004, Huber 2012). Yet, categorically speaking, the division of implicit and explicit is less useful when discussing the differentiation of creative industries because all branches handle both codified and tacit information. Regardless of whether we are referring to artistic creation or to engineering machinery, both require documented materials, as well as tacit skills or experience acquired only by doing. By contrast, a distinction between technological knowledge and symbolic information matters greatly in this case since they are differentiated in nature and form of learning.

2. According to a survey by the Shanghai Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, over 60% of workers in Shanghai take public transportation to work, mainly by metro (http://www.echinacities.com/news/Average-Commuting-Time-for-Shanghai-Residents-504-Minutes).