WHAT ABOUT CULTURE FOR THE ORDINARY WORKFORCE? A STUDY ON THE LOCATIONAL PREFERENCES OF THE CREATIVE CLASS IN PRENZLAUER BERG, BERLIN

ABSTRACT:Richard Florida’s creative class concept hardly needs introduction, neither in academic nor in urban and regional policy circles. The essence in a nutshell: the economic future of cities depends on their ability to attract creative people; and these creatives are attracted most to places that are tolerant, diverse, lively, and amenity-rich. Florida assigns these locational preferences specifically to the creative class, implying that they are of less importance to the “ordinary” workforce. With the help of a survey we compare the reasons why people moved to or stayed in Berlin’s most bohemian neighborhood, Prenzlauer Berg. We make a distinction between those who are categorized as “creative class” and others. Our results indicate that despite its unique character the creative class is not predominantly driven by the locational preferences Florida specifically assigned to them. Remarkably, these locational preferences appear more important drivers of residential choices for the ordinary workforce.