The Creative Class

In the industrial age regions rose to prominence by making the best use of their natural resources. In Australia mining towns and sea ports thrived. In the new, creative economy advantages are given to cities that can quickly mobilise the required workforce of talent and resources.

Knowledge and creativity have replaced natural resources and the efficiency of physical labour as the sources of wealth creation and economic growth. Human capital, or ‘talent’, has become the key factor of production. So every state has a chance to compete.

Regional development strategy now knows it must focus on being able to provide the talent and resources to attract new companies and projects to its cities. Quality-of-place has become a ‘buzz word’. Lifestyle, environmental quality and amenities play an important role in attracting the creative class.

Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class says, ‘The Creative Class is the new force of growth in our economy, similar to the way the industrial working class was the growth force a hundred year ago. Including scientists, engineers, techies, innovators and people in research and development, as well as artists, writers and musicians, the creative sector is reshaping our society.’

Australia is currently ranked 19th on Florida’s Global Creativity Index though he identifies Sydney and Melbourne as two of the greatest creative centres in the world. And our other cities are keen to follow suit. State governments are placing innovation high on their agendas.

'The Rise of the Creative Class has brought with it a switch in focus from companies or regions to people. In order for these organising units to prosper, they must attract highly creative productive people as well as support, mobilize and harness the creativity in everyone,’ says Florida.

South Australia’s Strategic Plan 2004 states, ‘A culture of creativity helps economic growth by developing better products and services, more efficient businesses and better delivery of government services. Creativity is also important to building a vibrant community.’

Their plan aims to
• increase the number of South Australians undertaking work in the creative industries by 20% by 2014.

• double the number of feature films produced in South Australia by 2014.

• increase the number of attendances at South Australia’s cultural institutions by 20% by 2014.

• increase the number of attendances at selected arts activities by 40% by 2014.

• Aboriginal cultural studies included in school curriculum by 2014 with involvement of Aboriginal people in design and delivery

The ACT and Queensland display similar ideals of creativity and innovation.

How will they acheive this?
There are three requirements for Florida’s creative city. He lists three T’s - technology, talent and tolerance - as the qualities needed to develop a creative region. Cities with a diverse cultural citizenship develop more creativity, in part because there is a greater concentration and scope of thoughts, practices and ideas, stemming from a variety of cultures and traditions.

Florida found cities with a high creative index have a higher proportion of gays, migrants and artists. They require open, or ‘third’, areas outside of home and work in which to exercise and socialise. And they prefer authenticity; thrift stores and boutiques, grand old buildings and independent book stores alongside cutting edge design.

Why are the states so keen to attract the creative class? Florida says, ‘Even though the creative class represents only a third of the workforce, they earn 50% of all wages and salaries. This total represents as much as the manufacturing and service sectors combined.

They also have considerable consumer power. In the U.S the creative class controls nearly 70% of the buying power. This is more than double that of the manufacturing and service sectors combined.

Though the nation’s capital regularly misses out in lists of cosmopolitan cities, with many labelling it man-made and sterile, it has a reasonably high proportion of migrants and has ‘third’ spaces for recreation – a favourite being lake Burley Griffin. South Australia has the lowest population of migrants after Tasmania, but still has a high reputation as a cultural state. (Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants Survey 2004)

However, at the moment, it is Queensland that is reaping the benefits of economic growth. Since 1998 it has enjoyed an average economic growth of five per cent per year compared with the Australian average of 3.7 per cent. Labour productivity has also grown faster, at 2.9 per cent, compared with the Australian average of 2.3 per cent.

Last year, in launching the next phase of Queensland’s Smart State strategy Premier Peter Beattie MP said, ‘If we don’t continue to change, the Sunshine State will still be a comfortable place in which to live. But we will be overtaken by those states and countries that are willing and anxious to change and embrace the opportunities the future offers.’

But according to Dr Ian Plowman, a Queensland evolutionary psychologist and social researcher, our state governments may not be the best people to make change. Plowman says the need for power is in direct contradiction with the ability to be creative, and all high-ranking persons, he asserts, generally are driven by a need for power.

‘The people who gravitate to positions of leadership are generally more conservative. They are the people who would have gravitated to positions of tribal elders, where their primary responsibility was to do what their elders taught them. Leaders discourage creativity, but they don’t even realise they’re doing it.’

Plowman’s research into Queensland towns and rural industries found the most innovative communities had fewer leaders and/or tended to the highest turnover of leaders. ‘That’s how you encourage freshness and creativity, by not allowing anybody to occupy a leadership position for more than one elected term,’ he explains. The creative class have responsibilities, not just to contribute toward state policies and strategies, but also to ensure fairness within.

‘The creative class clearly has the advantage economically, and are reshaping every part of society. Because the 21st century economy values their creativity so highly, a disproportionate share of rewards go to them,’ says Florida.

‘This basic inequality feeds into all kinds of other problems, creating unaffordable living situations for the workers not employed in creative class jobs, which leads to extreme gentrification in our global creative centres, which leads to big differences in education and upbringing, which further exacerbates inequality.

It’s a vicious cycle, and one that the creative class needs to reign in if they don’t want to spiral into outright class warfare or economic stagnation in another 20 or 30 years.’

The truth though is that there is enough disparity within the creative class itself. High end creatives like architects, software developers and scientists earn a lot more than most artists, musicians and writers who very often must supplement their income with ‘day jobs’. These jobs are often in service professions – from books shops and theatres to cafes, bars and call centres – which means many of Florida’s creative class are only enjoying part time access to the privileged status.

Florida says, ‘Our leaders must invest in all of the human beings in our society, from education to social safety nets to entrepreneurial seed money. It will be the single most important strategy that cities of the 21st century can adopt.’