Speaker
Description
The development of cities and economies in the 21st century has been discussed through creative sectors (Howkins, 2001). The Fordist mode of production, which was dominant until the 1970s, gave way to the post-Fordist mode based on flexible production and specialization. The widespread use of digital technologies and computerized production is one of the most prominent features of this new post-Fordist era (Landry, 2010). In this new era, driven by knowledge and creativity, development has been primarily fostered by sectors capable of harnessing these skills. Over the last two decades, the global economy has undergone significant changes, which can be defined as a Schumpeterian process (1943) of creative destruction, where declining sectors are disrupted by new and emerging business models and trade patterns (Nurse, 2012). Therefore, today, science and technology-based creative industries are seen as central to the development of cities and economies (DCMS, 2001), making significant contributions to the management of the Covid-19 pandemic that began globally in 2019. The importance of digitalization and science and technology-oriented sectors has been reaffirmed (Arıkan, 2020). Additionally, when creative sectors are mentioned, the cultural and artistic dimension typically comes to mind, and much research has been conducted in this area. However, science and technology-based sectors generate at least as many creative products as those produced by arts and culture-related sectors (ECLAC, 2008; UNCTAD, 2008; Rogers, 1954). For these reasons, "Computer Programming Activities," a science and technology-oriented creative sector primarily composed of software industries, was selected as one of the research topics for this study.
Another research topic is to discuss creative industries' spatial location selection dynamics. In this context, the reasons for choosing a location for the creative sector of computer programming activities (software industries) in Ankara and the reasons for selecting a location in this city were assessed. These assessments are discussed in the context of cluster theory (Amin and Cohendet, 2004; Scott and Storper, 1987), which is the matter of economic geography, and externalities created by localization and urbanization economies (Marshall, 1890; Jacobs, 1969; Porter, 2000).
The leading hypothesis of the research is that both localization and urbanization effects determine spatial relation dynamics of science and technology-oriented creative industries as triggering forces of economic and urban development in the 21st century. The main research question is, "How are the spatial relation dynamics of science and technology-oriented creative industries organized in the 21st century?"
In the research process, in-depth interviews, one of the qualitative methods, and cluster mapping analysis, one of the quantitative research methods, were utilized within the scope of the case study research method. Interviews were conducted with the representatives of the creative industry companies in Ankara/Türkiye under Computer Programming Activities 20 interview sessions before the pandemic and 16 sessions after the pandemic: a total of 36 interview sessions with 31 people.
In line with the findings, it was concluded that the computer programming activities (software) sector, one of the science and technology-oriented creative sectors in Ankara, tends to cluster in urban space and benefit from the externalities of both localization and urbanization economies.
References
Amin, A., & Cohendet, P. (2004). Architectures of Knowledge: Firms, Capabilities, and Communities. Oxford University Press.
Arıkan, E. (2020). Korona Sonrası Yeni Normal ve Sayısal Teknolojiler. In I. Çelebi, Gelecek Nasıl Olacak? Altınbaş Üniversitesi Yayınları.
DCMS. (2001). Creative Industries Mapping Document. DCMS London.
ECLAC. (2008). Industries de Contenidos en Latinoamerica. eLAC2007, Santiago.
Howkins, J. (2001). The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas. Penguin Press.
Jacobs, J. (1969). The Economy of Cities. Random House.
Landry, C. (2010). Creative Cities and Industries: Vision and Challenge. Symposium Book, Yıldız Technical University.
Marshall, A. (1890). Principles of Economics. Macmillan.
OECD. (2022). The Culture Fix: Creative People, Places and Industries. OECD Publishing.
Porter, M. E. (2000). Location, competition, and economic development. Economic Development Quarterly, 14(1), 15-34.
Rogers, C. R. (1954). Toward a theory of creativity. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 11(4), 249-260.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1943). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. George Allen & Unwin.
Scott, A. J., & Storper, M. (1987). High technology industry and regional development. International Social Science Journal, 39(2), 215-232.
UNCTAD. (2008). Creative Economy Report 2008.
UNIDO. (2009). Creative Industries and Micro & Small Scale Enterprise Development. UNIDO & UNESCO.
| Keywords | Creative Industries, Science and Technology, Software, Creative Clusters. |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
