Creativity for sustainable urban developmentrethinking creative city concept through UNESCO Creative Cities Network

Resumen

The thesis investigates the role of creativity in sustainable urban development both theoretically and empirically. It examines the evolution of the concept of the creative city from its original definition to its meanings today and uses a rich case, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), to illustrate and reflect on the creative city in practice. The critical review of the concept of the creative city goes back to its origins, from the work of David Yankcen to different reflections in the last thirty years. The creative city is recognized as being a movement today encompassing the different perspectives on the creative city: creativity as a toolkit for urban development; the creative industry and its activities as the core of the creative city and the third as the capacity of the city to attract creative competence. Also, this study deconstructs both the concepts of creativity and the city before diving into the case study. Both, the careful literature review as the in-depth case study are then used to deliver new perspectives on the concept of the creative city, being ultimately employed to extract conclusions regarding the role of creativity in sustainable urban development.