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Conceptualizing Urban Creativity: Searching for Traces of Tokyo’s Urban Development

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Abstract

This chapter delves deeper into the main theoretical and conceptual basis of the book. It attempts a holistic approach to creativity, encompassing its multiple influences and exposing less mentioned, yet constitutive, elements that contribute to its formation and preservation. The concepts of social and cultural heterogeneity, tangible and intangible (sub)cultural capital, instrumental and reflexive spaces, spatial standardization (or cultural sterilization) of places are all integral parts of urban creativity that are too often set aside during the processes of urban creative development. The chapter promotes and delineates soft (social) spatial factors in the creative ecosystem in contrast to the hard (physical) spatial factors that are usually in the spotlight in urban planning.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cities with a rich cultural, historical heritage (e.g., Venice, Florence), important museums (e.g., Louvre, Prado), or art galleries (e.g., National Gallery) have relied on this type of capital for centuries. By using various marketing and promotional strategies, they convert cultural capital into economic capital.

  2. 2.

    A famous example of subcultural art that later became part of the mainstream cultural market is the case of punk groups (e.g., Sex Pistols), their music, and fashion (e.g., Vivienne Westwood). The subcultural image of punk movements was gradually converted into economic capital, offered as new, fashionable, and interesting products in the consumer market (see Ruhlmann, 2007).

  3. 3.

    For example, some of Japan’s big media companies (e.g., Dentsu, Asahi Shimbun), are located nearby, and new business and commercial areas are constantly emerging in the area.

  4. 4.

    Tsukiji Fish Market previously consisted of an inner and outer market. The bigger inner market (jōnai-shijō) was the licensed wholesale market with auctions, food processing, and approximately 900 licensed wholesale dealers who operated small stalls. The smaller outer market (jōgai-shijō) still exists in the same location and is a mixture of wholesale, retail shops (supplies, groceries, seafood, kitchen tools), and restaurants (including sushi) related to the Japanese fish industry.

  5. 5.

    The interviewees included traders at the Tsukiji Fish Market (intermediate wholesalers), experts on Tokyo’s and Japan’s spatial issues (urban sociologists, planners, and architects), TMG officials involved in spatial issues, adjacent residents (up to 500 meters from the location), residents from other parts of Tokyo (outside Chūō ward), and representatives of the civil initiative for preserving the Tsukiji Fish Market. Each group of interviewees consisted of five or six persons, and altogether 34 in-depth interviews were carried out.

  6. 6.

    Examples of auditory discrimination can be found in musical preferences. For example, punk, jazz, or heavy metal music are considered disturbing by specific population groups. An example of olfactory discrimination is the smell of onion or garlic, which is considered off-putting in some cultures. People whose cuisine includes these ingredients could be discriminated against on the basis of what is “normal” and what is “smelly food.” Definitions of what is and is not appropriate are made by the members of the dominant culture (Incirlioglu & Tandogan, 1999).

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Ursic, M., Imai, H. (2020). Conceptualizing Urban Creativity: Searching for Traces of Tokyo’s Urban Development. In: Creativity in Tokyo. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6687-5_3

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