From the Unsustainable Creative Class to the Sustainable Creative City : An Emerging Shift in Cultural Policies?

Under the light of theoretical insights on unsustainability at the late stage of Modernity, i.e. the technological system, disjunctive knowledge, autopoïesis and phenomenological numbness, and given the relevance of some of these symptoms in the art worlds, Richard Florida's 'Creative Class' appears as a highly problematic discourse for urban cultural policies. Against the scenario of Florida's 'spiky world,' alternative models for more sustainable creative cities are emerging, alongside explorations of 'cultures of sustainability' pointing at the interface between artistic rationality, inter-conventionality and autoecopoïesis. Therefore, the discussions around the 'creative city' constitute a relevant area for the exploration of the significance of culture for sustainability, of sustainability/unsustainability for culture, and especially for cultural policy today. An up-to-date case is shortly discussed: a policy recommendations workshop as part of the preparatory process for the 8th ASEM Summit (held in Oct. 2010).