Anticipations of the New Urban Cultural Economy

Abstract

This essay is a distinctive response to urban creativity in London during what might be described as the long 1960s. Here the emphasis is neither on the 1960s as cultural revolution, nor on the period as another twist in a long tradition of urban creative activity, but rather on the way in which many of the elements of what has been described as the new cultural economy of cities were anticipated in the developments of the period. Our primary focus here reflects our interests and research into the development of the fashion industry and broader fashion culture of the West End in the post-war period, but our more general argument applies to a wider range of cultural industries that developed in the city during the period. Examining the history of London in the 1960s alongside consideration of the new urban cultural economy literature can help to achieve three outcomes. First, this analysis of the urban creative economy that developed in London from the late-1950s onwards complicates what has become a dominant reading of the periodisation of the interrelations between culture, economy and certain key cities. We consider this periodisation model in the following section. Secondly, ideas developed from the urban cultural economy literature can contribute new perspectives to our understanding of London in the 1960s. Finally, this exercise can also be used to reflect on contemporary developments, indicating some of the specificities and limitations of claims about contemporary urban creative sectors.