Knowledge intensive firms, communities and creative cities

A major trend in research on the economics of innovation focuses on the metropolis/city as a major locus of knowledge creation and integration (Krugman, 1991; Lucas, 1993). In line with this, the introduction of the theme of the "creative city" to the mainstream (Florida 2002) generated a considerable interest from urban policy-makers and cultural activists, and an equivalent amount of criticisms from academia (Scott, 2005). Departing from a too generic understanding of the so-called "creative city" and addressing the main comments raised by members of academia about the lack of theorization and robustness of the concept, this contribution proposes an empirically grounded theoretical reflection on the "creativity" of the city and on its use by major creative or knowledge intensive firms (hereinafter, "KI firms"). We focus on the existence of large KI firms in creative cities such as the movie companies in Los Angeles, the fashion companies in Paris and Milan, or the advertising companies in London. We argue that creative cities tend to favour a specific "ecology of knowledge" where some major KI firms tend to emerge and grow through a specific form of co-evolution with that of the city: the city nurtures the KI firm with flows of specialised knowledge and creativity, and in turn the main KI firms nourish the creative soil of the city through a flagship or anchor role.