CREATIVE MILIEUS IN THE STOCKHOLM REGION

This chapter intends to demonstrate that the Stockholm region is the key centre for knowledge development, innovations and intellectual creativity in Sweden. The region is an attractor for individuals with ambitions and talents in political, economic and cultural life. At the same time novel ideas and solutions diffuse from the Stockholm region to other regions of the country. A major effort in the study is to describe occupations with regard to (i) the skills of a job and (ii) the tasks associated with a job. Moreover, the knowledge intensity of an ur-ban region can be related to the absorption capacity of firms in the region, implying that firms can make use of all sorts of novelties in the world economy as stimuli for own imi-tations and innovations. Compared to other parts of Sweden, the Stockholm region has both a richer inflow of creative ideas and a larger absorptive capacity. This allows the Stockholm region to function as a source of innovation and business renewal for the rest of the country as novelties diffuse through the regional hierarchy.