This collection of essays is based on the work of Jane Jacobs, who theorized that "Change...occurs from the bottom up. When enough individual elements interact and organize themselves, the result is collective intelligence--even though no one is in charge." Cooke (regional development, University of Wales) and Lazzeretti (cultural economics, University of Florence, Italy) have selected articles, some reprinted from journals, that explore different ways in which these "cultural clusters" within communities influence the economy and growth of the area. Examples range from watch making to film making in place as diverse as Singapore, Switzerland and Vancouver, Canada. Highly technical language makes this accessible largely by professionals in economics and urban planning. Annotation ⓒ2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

List of contributors Preface Acknowledgements Creative cities: an introduction Part 1. Cultural districts, cultural clusters and local economic development 1. Culture, clusters, districts and quarters: some reflections on the scale question 2. Cultural resources and regional development: the case of the cultural legacy of watchmaking 3. Cultural clusters and districts: the state of the art 4. The cultural districtualization model 5. Collective trademarks and cultural districts: the case of San Gregorio Armeno, Naples 6.Fixed book pricing in Spain: a debate between economic efficency and cultural diversity 7.Why do cultural industries cluster? Localization, urbanization, products and projects Part II. Knowledge, creative industries and local economic development 8. Creativity, innovation and territorial agglomeration in cultural activities: the roots of the creative city 9. Knowledge externalities and networks of cities in the creative metropolis 10. The management of ''events'' in the Veneto performing music cluster: bridging latent networks and permanent organizations 11. Creative clusters and governance: the dominance of the Hollywood film cluster 12. The creative city: a matter of values 13. Evolving Singapore: the creative city 14. Mapping and analysing creative systems in Italy Index