Creative class

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The theory of the creative class (Creative class) is an economic theory developed by the American professor Richard Florida .

Their basic statement is that the creative minds of a society and the innovations they generate are decisive for the economic growth of regions. Members of the creative class can be found in all areas of the world of work, the decisive factor is their “creative output” and the resulting innovations. Florida also focuses in its research on the spatial distribution of the creative class and tries to explain the development of regions with it.

The change in work

Florida believes that creative output is the single most important factor in economic growth . The invention of the plow was a creative idea that led to profound changes in agriculture. It is certain that every person has a creative potential, but he must also live within a system that promotes this creativity and allows it to develop.

For a long time the innovations came from a few individuals; the great mass of people worked without thinking about their work. This was particularly true of the time of the Fordist economic order. Developed in the early 20th century, it divided value creation processes into individual, predefined steps. The assembly line became the heartbeat of production. However, this system has undergone major changes since the 1980s, including Japanese companies such as Toyota , which recognized that the workers in a factory were far more important to the value creation process than the machines used.

Due to the tougher global competition, increased time pressure, shorter product cycles and the associated recognition that this economic order with its vertical organizations and hierarchies was too rigid to cope with the new challenges effectively and successfully, new forms of economic order developed. Making companies more flexible, etc. a. by flattening hierarchies, larger areas of responsibility for employees, participation of all those involved in the production circle in the innovation and problem-solving process . This led to profound changes in the world of work. Workers who were previously not part of the innovation process were now involved and their creative potential was used.

As a result of this development, according to Florida's definition, the number of “creative people” in the economy grew steadily. In the United States, for example, the creative class made up about 10% of the workforce in 1900 and, after moderate growth, increased to 20% by the years 1970–1980 to 30% in 2000. There was also a sharp increase in the creative class Jobs in the mid-1980s can be seen.

The creative class

Workers are assigned to the creative class based on the nature of their activity, whereby people from all areas of the working world can be assigned to the creative class, as long as the content of their work entails a creative process. Florida divides the creative class into two groups:

The super creative core includes those whose profession and main task is to create something and to produce something new. These innovations manifest themselves e.g. B. in new products, optimized processes or new ideas. Members of the Supercreative Core work in knowledge-intensive areas, e.g. B. Scientists , artists , teachers , designers and also entrepreneurs .

The second group is that of the creative professionals , who also mainly deal with knowledge-intensive work. However, it is not the main task of their occupation to create something new, but their profession requires independent thinking and creative problem solving. Members of this group include a. Lawyers , managers , skilled workers , doctors, etc.

It is critically noted that, based on job titles, it is not possible to make any clear and certainly not quantifiable statements about the creative demands on their sponsors and their services. Creativity is an individual characteristic; There are also creative people in traditional industries. Adam Smith , Alfred Marshall , Joseph Schumpeter , Paul Romer and Jane Jacobs have already expressed themselves about the central importance of individual creativity, the latter explicitly in the context of urban development. But even in regions and industries where innovation has become a routine task, the really creative are an exception. Many architects draw stairs, lawyers write warning letters, engineers optimize the seat of the exhaust clamps in the car. Edward Glaeser points out that Florida has confused the creative with the formally highly qualified. Furthermore, the Americanist Walter Grünzweig ( Technical University of Dortmund ) has shown that the term “creative class”, as it is ascribed to Florida, actually originated from Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essay “Power” from the anthology The Conduct of Life (1860 ) Has.

The creative class in the room

The individual decision to work and live in one place is influenced by many factors. Since the creative class is above average mobile, there is often a concentration in particularly attractive regions and metropolises . This cluster formation of human capital lead to above-average growth and prosperity as accompanied by colonizing companies.

In order to analyze regions according to their attractiveness and potential, Florida developed the three T model. This is made up of the indicators technology , talent and tolerance . Technology stands for innovations and the concentration of high technology and knowledge sectors in a region, in a manner of speaking the already established knowledge-intensive economy. Talent represents creative potential, determined by the number of employees in creative professions in the region. Tolerance stands for the openness of a society or region, through which a large spectrum of different personalities is attracted, which leads to a high exchange of new ideas. Regions in which these three aspects are strongly represented are cosmopolitan, highly educated and equipped with future-oriented economic sectors.

As the growth engines of a society, these regions emanate decisive innovations with an impact on a much larger area. Regions that are already characterized by these characteristics are very likely to attract more highly qualified creative people from outside, as these values ​​play a major role in individual decisions.

The Florida conclusion that cool urban centers can attract the creative bohemians and thus stimulate innovation is criticized . The role of this group and the social tolerance that is important for its development has already been emphasized by others. But their role is often limited to contributing to lifestyle innovations. The Harvard economist Edward Glaeser uses empirical data by means of a regression analysis to show any influence of this group on urban growth in the USA (except in the cases of Las Vegas - apparently an effect of the high proportion of entertainers in the urban population - and Sarasota ) - the " City of Arts ”or“ World Class Shopping ”- back. Most of the really creative people now live in suburban milieus with large lots, good car connections and good schools for their children.

See also

swell

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Florida. 2002. pp. 56-57.
  2. ↑ Florida. 2002. pp. 62-66.
  3. ↑ Florida. 2002. pp. 72-77
  4. ↑ Grünzweig, p. 91.
  5. ↑ Emerson, p. 49.
  6. ↑ After Ross DeVol, Edward Glaeser. From: Florida. 2002. pp. 221-222.
  7. ↑ Florida. 2002. pp. 249-266
  8. ^ Edward Glaeser : Review of Richard Florida's 'The Rise of the Creative Class'. Paper, Harvard University n.d. Online