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The Cultural Economy of Cities
Author(s) -
Scott Allen J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2427.00075
Subject(s) - globe , allusion , capitalism , modalities , culture industry , economic geography , semiotics , cultural industry , sociology , cultural studies , politics , production (economics) , phenomenon , economy , goods and services , economics , social science , political science , anthropology , art , epistemology , psychology , philosophy , literature , neuroscience , law , macroeconomics
An increasingly important fraction of contemporary economic activity is devoted to the production of cultural outputs, i.e. goods and services with high levels of aesthetic or semiotic content. This kind of economic activity is especially, and increasingly, associated with a number of large cities scattered over the globe. A conceptual account of this phenomenon is provided on the basis of an exploration of the character of place‐specific forms of culture generation and the agglomerative tendencies of many kinds of cultural products industries. The empirical cases of Los Angeles and Paris are briefly discussed. The dynamics of production, distribution and location of major cultural products industries are also examined. The paper ends with a brief allusion to the modalities of spatial differentiation of culture in contemporary capitalism and to a prospective cultural politics.