Creative entrepreneurship and urban space

Abstract

Academic scholarship has scrutinised the triangle connecting creativity, locality and economic \nactivity in three ways. First, the clustering of firms has been found to promote creativity in an \nurban environment (cf. clustering theories). Second, and indicating an inverse course of action, \ncreative individuals have been found to foster the economic growth of cities by attracting \nemployers to places where the former want to reside (cf. creative class theory). Third, the \nspecific attributes of a location, in particular urban environments, have been shown to have a \npositive impact on individual creativity. Our study adds to this fascinating liaison by exploring: \nthe economic and non-economic features that lead to designers establishing their businesses in \nAthens\xe2\x80\x99 city centre; and the perceived direct and indirect benefits of these locational factors in \nrelation to the creative labour of these entrepreneurs. In this way, we merge micro and macro \nperspectives on the relationship between creative entrepreneurship and place, but in a \npotentially experimental setting, given that the urban fabric in Athens had to be reconstructed \nafter it experienced economic and social turbulence following the 2008/2009 economic crisis \nand the austerity measures that were the resul