Creative hubs have become a cornerstone of economic and cultural policy with only the barest amount of discussion or scrutiny. This volume offers the first interrogation of creative hubs, with ground-breaking critical writing from a combination of established scholars and new voices. Looking across multiple sites trans-nationally, and combining theoretical and empirical reflections, it asks: what are creative hubs, why do they matter, and are they making the world a better place? Creative Hubs in Question discusses creative hubs in relation to debates about creative cities, co-working spaces and workers' co-operatives. Featuring case studies from Argentina to the Netherlands, and Nigeria to the UK, the contributions address how hubs are situated in relation to projects of equality and social justice, and whether and in what ways they change the experiences of the creatives who work in them. Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives including sociology, geography, economics, media and communications, culture and creative industries, critical policy studies, gender studies, race and ethnicity, and urban studies, this collection will be of interest to policy makers, academics, scholars, students and practitioners across these fields.

This contributed volume considers the emergence of coworking as centered in labor issues. More specifically, its chapters consider it as a coping mechanism in the worldwide rise of independent modes of work (i.e., self-employment) that leaves more and more workers exposed to precarity as they must organize and manage their own labor. Grounded in this perspective, this volume aims to understand the transformative social and political potentials emerging through coworking as a social and spatial practice. There is a distinct lack of discussion within coworking research on the emancipatory potentials of coworking—and if it is discussed, more cautionary views prevail, highlighting the ambivalence of coworking spaces both as a space of alternative economic practices and as integrated into market economies. The aims of this collection are twofold: First, it aims to make visible the plurality of existing practices around shared resources in coworking and the assemblages of human and non-human actors as agents of change associated with coworking and the re-organization of work and labor power. And second, it aims to develop a more emancipatory narrative for coworking and the role of coworking spaces for workers but also the different spatial contexts in which these spaces are situated. A narrative that does not emphasize entrepreneurship or coworking as the epitome of the ‘neoliberal entrepreneurial self’ as in the dominant interpretations in the current research, but rather one that centers coworking in the creation of meaningful, careful social relationships, supporting empathy and an ethics that recognizes mutual interdependencies and builds a foundation for social change. So, it is about alternative narratives, emancipation politics and the wider social role that coworking spaces might play in neighborhoods, cities or beyond because they are crucial contexts for the formation and maintenance of social relations. With this specific direction, this collection aims to bring coworking research into a fruitful dialog with other research fields-such as sociology of work, feminist perspectives on care, alternative and diverse economies, "post-capitalist" transformation, critical geography, positioning coworking within a range of progressive alternatives in the articulation of economic and social relationships.

Fashion is under the spotlight like never before. Activists call for environmental accountability, and wide-ranging debates highlight exploitation across global supply chains and the reliance on unpaid labour. Digital technology undermines traditional fashion companies, while small-scale independent fashion designers provide radical innovations in design and work in more socially inclusive ways. This book contributes to a new sociology of fashion. Focusing on the working lives of independent designers and based on ethnographic research and interviews carried out in London, Berlin and Milan, the authors consider the urban policy regimes in place in these cities. They analyse how these regimes shape the microenterprises and the emerging political economy, as well as the structures needed for designers to flourish. They also develop several key concepts – the ‘milieu of fashion labour’, ‘social fashion’ and ‘fashion diversity’ – and chart the new world of digital fashion-tech and e-commerce. Drawing on lessons from European initiatives and recognizing the capacity of microenterprises and start-ups to determine fashion’s future, the authors call for the industry to be significantly decentralized to ensure more diversity and less exclusivity.

This book focuses on investigating a smaller-scale urban phenomenon - creative hubs - as a basic geographic concentration unit of urban creativity. The purpose of the research is to put forward the concept of creative hubs as an urban mechanism that partially emerges spontaneously however with necessary planning intervention from the need of effectively leveraging local resources to better facilitate creative activities and ultimately prosper local economy. Building a conceptual framework that articulates the three essential components (the 3Ps) of creative hubs: people, place, and planning, the research further analyzes the creative-hub distribution in Toronto, Canada by using a mapping approach to illustrate how different creative hubs are scattered in the city.

Both volumes of Creative (and Cultural) Industry Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century map and elucidate the adaptations and challenges faced by the creative professionals and the entrepreneurial solutions they have co-developed.

Creative Spaces for Qualitative Researching: Living Research. This book looks inward at researchers who are seeking to live their research – to embody the principles, methodologies and ethical conduct that comprises their research strategies. And, it looks outward at the living world as the focus of qualitative research. From both perspectives the editors and authors of this book have created spaces for qualitative research that provide critical and creative frameworks for conducting and living their research. A rich variety of research voices and lives are illuminated, liberated and revealed in the book. There are five sections in the book: Researching Living Practices Doing Creative Research Being a Creative Researcher Co-Creating Qualitative Research in Creative Spaces Becoming Transformed Through Creative Research.

This report warns that the extraordinary success of the UK's creative industries may be jeopardised by any dilution of intellectual property rights and the failure to tackle online piracy. The Committee also strongly condemns the failure of Google in particular to tackle access of copyright infringing websites through its search engine. Such illegal piracy, combined with proposals arising from the Hargreaves review to introduce copyright exceptions, and a failure to strengthen copyright enforcement as envisaged by the Digital Economy Act 2010, together threaten the livelihoods of the individuals and industries that contribute over £36 billion annually to the UK economy. Also, the Olympics No Marketing Rights scheme is excessively restrictive and is preventing British creative companies from realising the benefits they deserve from the Olympic legacy. The Committee calls for: a central champion of Intellectual Property in Government to promote and protect the interests of UK intellectual property; the maximum penalty for serious online IP theft to be increased to 10 years imprisonment, in line with the punishment for such offences in the physical world; more evidence and scrutiny before any exceptions to copyright such as those suggested by Hargreaves are applied; redoubled efforts to ensure that the video games tax credit is approved by the European Commission and introduced as soon as possible; reforms to the income tax and tax reliefs systems to recognise adequately the freelance nature of much creative work; greater recognition of the importance of arts subjects in the curriculum.

Contemporary Museum Architecture and Design showcases 18 diverse essays written by people who design, work in, and study museums, offering a variety of perspectives on this complex building type. Throughout, the authors emphasize new kinds of experiences that museum architecture helps create, connecting ideas about design at various levels of analysis, from thinking about how the building sits in the city to exploring the details of technology. With sections focusing on museums as architectural icons, community engagement through design, the role of gallery spaces in the experience of museums, disability experiences, and sustainable design for museums, the collected chapters cover topics both familiar and fresh to those interested in museum architecture. Featuring over 150 color illustrations, this book celebrates successful museum architecture while the critical analysis sheds light on important issues to consider in museum design. Written by an international range of museum administrators, architects, and researchers this collection is an essential resource for understanding the social impacts of museum architecture and design for professionals, students, and museum-lovers alike.

Originally published as a special issue of the Creativity Research Journal, this volume gives a balanced and reflective account of the challenges and opportunities of technology-enabled creative learning in contemporary societies. Providing a current and updated account of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus to online education, chapters more broadly offer conceptual reflections and empirically informed insights into the impact of technology on individual and collective creativity and learning. These thoughts are explored in relation to school achievement, the development of digital educational resources, online collaboration, and virtual working. Further, the book also considers how the creative use of technology poses risks to learning through the accidental or deliberate dissemination of misinformation, and online manipulation of common societal values in the era of COVID-19. Creative Learning in Digital and Virtual Environments looks at the connection between creativity, learning, and school achievement, and analyses the impact of virtual environments on creative expression. It will appeal to postgraduate students in the fields of creativity and learning, as well as to students and academics involved with broader research in areas such as the role of technology in education, e-Learning and distance education. Vlad P. Glăveanu is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology and Counselling at Webster University Geneva, Switzerland, as well as Associate Professor II at the University of Bergen, Norway. Ingunn Johanne Ness is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology, University of Bergen, Norway. Constance de Saint Laurent is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bologna, Italy.

This book argues for a rethinking of what constitutes creativity, foregrounding non-economic values and practices, and the often marginal and everyday spaces in which creativity takes shape.