Startup Density Literature Review

McNair Project

Startup Density Literature Review
Project Information
Project Title	Startup Density Literature Review
Owner	Yunnie Huang
Start Date	10/23/2017
Deadline
Primary Billing
Notes
Has project status
Is dependent on	Urban Start-up Agglomeration
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Below is a list of citations I have gathered looking up papers related to the research on Urban Start-up Agglomeration. They are organized into the three categories (1) about startups (2) about agglomeration in economics in general (3) use GIS data

Startups

Are All Startups Affected Similarly by Clusters by Aviad Pe'er and Thomas Keil. Cited by 44. Fit in both category (1) and (2)

  @article{peer_are_2013,
  title = {Are all startups affected similarly by clusters? {Agglomeration}, competition, firm heterogeneity, and survival},
  volume = {28},
  issn = {0883-9026},
  shorttitle = {Are all startups affected similarly by clusters?},
  url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902612000626},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jbusvent.2012.03.004},
  abstract = {Are all startups similarly affected by the survival benefits and drawbacks of locating in geographic clusters? In this paper, we argue that prior theorizing may have missed important contingencies that affect whether a startup experiences the benefits and costs of locating in a cluster. In particular, while the local levels of skilled labor, suppliers, and purchasers have a beneficial influence and local competition has a detrimental influence on startup survival, these relationships are moderated by heterogeneity in firms' resources and capabilities. We find support for these arguments using a dataset covering the early life of all independent startups in the Canadian manufacturing sector from 1984 to 1998.},
  number = {3},
  urldate = {2017-10-31},
  journal = {Journal of Business Venturing},
  author = {Pe'er, Aviad and Keil, Thomas},
  month = may,
  year = {2013},
  keywords = {Agglomeration, Capability, Cluster, Resource, Survival},
  pages = {354--372}

Who enters, where and why? by Aviad Pe'er. Cited by 34. Fit in both category (1) and (2)

  @article{peer_who_2008,
  title = {Who enters, where and why? {The} influence of capabilities and initial resource endowments on the location choices of de novo enterprises},
  volume = {6},
  issn = {1476-1270},
  shorttitle = {Who enters, where and why?},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127008090007},
  doi = {10.1177/1476127008090007},
  abstract = {Some geographical locations have characteristics that create opportunities for de novo enterprises, but not all new firms can access the benefits presented by a potential location. The ability of new firms to appropriate benefit and avoid risk depends on the resources that entrepreneurs can marshal for their enterprise. This article develops a model of the interplay between the attributes of de novo entrants and their founding locations. The model assumes that de novo entrants tend to appear in the region where their founders live, but that founders choose among locations within their regions.The test of the model, using data on all de novo entrants in the Canadian manufacturing sector during 1984—98, reveals that entrants with greater resource and capability endowments are more likely to locate in areas with an agglomeration of similar firms, but this effect reverses at high endowment levels. Additionally, larger entrants are less likely to locate in areas characterized by intense local competition and potential entry deterrence, while smaller and well-endowed entrants tend to locate in areas where entry barriers are lower and asset turnover higher. These findings suggest that entrants choose locations strategically within their founding regions.They also indicate that the strategic imperatives of de novo entrants differ significantly from those of geographically diversifying firms, and thus suggest amendments to theories of location choice when modeling the decisions of new ventures.},
  language = {en},
  number = {2},
  urldate = {2017-10-31},
  journal = {Strategic Organization},
  author = {Pe'er, Aviad and Vertinsky, Ilan and King, Andrew},
  month = may,
  year = {2008},
  pages = {119--149}

Accelerators and the Regional Supply of Venture Capital Investment by Daniel Fehder and Yael Hochberg. Fit in category (1) and (2)

  @techreport{fehder_accelerators_2014,
  address = {Rochester, NY},
  title = {Accelerators and the {Regional} {Supply} of {Venture} {Capital} {Investment}},
  url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2518668},
  abstract = {Recent years have seen the rapid emergence of a new type of program aimed at seeding startup companies. These programs, often referred to as accelerators, differ from previously known seed-stage  institutions such as incubators and angel groups. While proliferation of such accelerators is evident,  evidence on efficacy and role of these programs is scant. Nonetheless, local governments and founders of  such programs often cite the motivation for their establishment and funding as the desire to transform their local economies through the establishment of a startup technology cluster in their region. In this paper, we attempt to assess the impact that such programs can have on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the regions in which they are established, by exploring the effects of accelerators on the availability and provision of seed and early stage venture capital funding in the local region.},
  number = {ID 2518668},
  urldate = {2017-11-06},
  institution = {Social Science Research Network},
  author = {Fehder, Daniel C. and Hochberg, Yael V.},
  month = sep,
  year = {2014},
  keywords = {Accelerators and the Regional Supply of Venture Capital Investment, Daniel C. Fehder, SSRN, Yael V. Hochberg}

Aspiring, nascent and fledgling entrepreneurs: an investigation of the business start-up process by Beate Rotefoss and Lars Kolvereid. Cited by 262.

  @article{rotefoss_aspiring_2005,
  title = {Aspiring, nascent and fledgling entrepreneurs: an investigation of the business start-up process},
  volume = {17},
  issn = {0898-5626},
  shorttitle = {Aspiring, nascent and fledgling entrepreneurs},
  url = {http://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08985620500074049}
  doi = {10.1080/08985620500074049},
  abstract = {This study focuses on three different milestones in the business gestation process, i.e. becoming an aspiring entrepreneur, a nascent entrepreneur, and a founder of a fledgling new business. Moreover, this study uses a combination of both individual and regional (or environmental) factors in predicting individuals’ success or failure to reach each of these three milestones. Hypotheses are developed to test the effect that human and environmental resources have on the odds of reaching the different milestones in the business start-up process. The study is based on interviews of a representative sample of 9533 Norwegians aged 18 years or older. From this group, 197 respondents qualified as nascent entrepreneurs. These were subsequently interviewed in follow-up interviews conducted in 1996, 1997 and 1999. In addition, regional data at the municipality level is included to measure the available pool of environmental resources. The results indicate that entrepreneurial experience is the single most important factor for predicting the outcome of the business start-up process. Even though environmental resources play a role, human resources are generally found to be better predictors of the outcome of the business start-up process. Several important implications for policy-makers are presented.},
  number = {2},
  urldate = {2017-10-28},
  journal = {Entrepreneurship \& Regional Development},
  author = {Rotefoss, Beate and Kolvereid, Lars},
  month = mar,
  year = {2005},
  pages = {109--127}

Firm Births, Access to Transit, and Agglomeration in Portland, Oregon, and Dallas by Daniel G. Chatman. Fit in both category (1) and (2).

  @article{chatman_firm_2016,
  title = {Firm {Births}, {Access} to {Transit}, and {Agglomeration} in {Portland}, {Oregon}, and {Dallas}, {Texas}},
  volume = {2598},
  issn = {0361-1981},
  url = {http://trrjournalonline.trb.org/doi/abs/10.3141/2598-01},
  doi = {10.3141/2598-01},
  abstract = {The formation of new firms is one process by which economies grow and innovate. Public transportation services may facilitate the birth of new firms by both providing better access and causing local densification that leads to agglomeration economies. In this study firm births are investigated to determine how they are related to newly provided light rail transit service in two metropolitan areas in the United States. A geocoded time-series database of firm establishments in Dallas, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, from 1991 through 2008 is used. The data set allows the study of spatial patterns by industry and the analysis of the relationship of firm births to rail station proximity, accessibility, and local agglomeration while controlling for a number of potentially confounding factors. Positive, large, and statistically significant relationships are found in Portland between rail station proximity and firm births. The rail proximity results in Dallas are also generally positive, though not as large; this finding is consistent with the smaller accessibility value of rail in Dallas, as well as policies encouraging commercial development near rail in Portland. Rail proximity increases firm births across almost all industrial sectors in both of these metropolitan areas when controlling for the negative effects on firm births of local own-industry employment. Local block-level agglomeration and generalized accessibility are also highly significant but appear to work independently of rail access. These results imply that passenger rail service increases firm births near rail stations by expanding access to the labor market but not by increasing information spillovers or increasing face-to-face interactions.},
  urldate = {2017-10-31},
  journal = {Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board},
  author = {Chatman, Daniel G. and Noland, Robert B. and Klein, Nicholas J.},
  month = jan,
  year = {2016},
  pages = {1--10}

Path-Dependent Startup Hubs - Comparing Metropolitan Performance: High-Tech and ICT Startup Density by Dane Stangler

  @techreport{stangler_path-dependent_2013,
  address = {Rochester, NY},
  title = {Path-{Dependent} {Startup} {Hubs} - {Comparing} {Metropolitan} {Performance}: {High}-{Tech} and {ICT} {Startup} {Density}},
  shorttitle = {Path-{Dependent} {Startup} {Hubs} - {Comparing} {Metropolitan} {Performance}},
  url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2321145},
  abstract = {Kansas City and other areas viewed as "new" startup hubs actually have been fostering a culture of entrepreneurship for some time. Many of these cities have a history of strong technology sectors or experienced strong growth among technology startups over the past two decades. A strong regional or local culture of technology entrepreneurship is not a recent phenomenon, contrary to the opinions of many. The top 10 cities in 2010 also ranked among the top 20 cities two decades earlier.This analysis shows that many cities' recent adoption of new entrepreneurship programs is more an indication of the underlying strength of the region and its base of talent on which those programs can build than it is a cause of startup activity. Cities such as Kansas City, Seattle, Portland and Boise all owe their emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems to many years of spinoffs and entrepreneurial spawning.Research universities and other postsecondary institutions are important for metropolitan entrepreneurship, but are not the sole cause in spurring such activity. Instead, the most fertile source of entrepreneurial spawning is the population of existing companies, which has implications for economic policymaking and economic development strategies.Entrepreneurs come from somewhere - this seems obvious, but that observation runs against the prevailing stereotype that entrepreneurs are, or should be, recent college grads or college dropouts. That 'somewhere' usually is a previous job in a big company or at an institution, such as a university, which helps explain the age distribution of entrepreneurs.However, regions should be careful in turning these observations into policy. While spinoffs are important for tech startup growth, such a strategy could be wrongly interpreted as supporting traditional economic development strategies of tax incentives for big companies. More work must be done to understand the local and regional dynamics of entrepreneurship, barriers that may exist to catalyzing a self-fulfilling dynamic of entrepreneurial spinoffs and what the proper role of supporting institutions should be.},
  number = {ID 2321145},
  urldate = {2017-10-24},
  institution = {Social Science Research Network},
  author = {Stangler, Dane},
  month = sep,
  year = {2013},
  keywords = {entrepreneur, local entrepreneurship, regional entrepreneurship, startup hub}

Clusters and entrepreneurship by Mercedes Delgado. Fit in category (1) and (2)

  @article{delgado_clusters_2010,
  title = {Clusters and entrepreneurship},
  volume = {10},
  issn = {1468-2702},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/joeg/article/10/4/495/913653},
  doi = {10.1093/jeg/lbq010},
  abstract = {This article examines the role of regional clusters in regional entrepreneurship. We focus on the distinct influences of convergence and agglomeration on growth in the number of start-up firms as well as in employment in these new firms in a given region-industry. While reversion to the mean and diminishing returns to entrepreneurship at the region-industry level can result in a convergence effect, the presence of complementary economic activity creates externalities that enhance incentives and reduce barriers for new business creation. Clusters are a particularly important way through which location-based complementarities are realized. The empirical analysis uses a novel panel dataset from the Longitudinal Business Database of the Census Bureau and the US Cluster Mapping Project. Using this dataset, there is significant evidence of the positive impact of clusters on entrepreneurship. After controlling for convergence in start-up activity at the region-industry level, industries located in regions with strong clusters (i.e. a large presence of other related industries) experience higher growth in new business formation and start-up employment. Strong clusters are also associated with the formation of new establishments of existing firms, thus influencing the location decision of multi-establishment firms. Finally, strong clusters contribute to start-up firm survival.},
  number = {4},
  urldate = {2017-11-06},
  journal = {Journal of Economic Geography},
  author = {Delgado, Mercedes and Porter, Michael E. and Stern, Scott},
  month = jul,
  year = {2010},
  pages = {495--518}

Agglomeration in Economics

Chapter 49 - Evidence on the Nature and Sources of Agglomeration Economies by Stuart S. Rosenthal and William C. Strange. Cited by 2427.

  @incollection{rosenthal_chapter_2004,
  series = {Cities and {Geography}},
  title = {Chapter 49 - {Evidence} on the {Nature} and {Sources} of {Agglomeration} {Economies}},
  volume = {4},
  url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574008004800063},
  abstract = {This paper considers the empirical literature on the nature and sources of urban increasing returns, also known as agglomeration economies. An important aspect of these externalities that has not been previously emphasized is that the effects of agglomeration extend over at least three different dimensions. These are the industrial, geographic, and temporal scope of economic agglomeration economies. In each case, the literature suggests that agglomeration economies attenuate with distance. Recently, the literature has also begun to provide evidence on the microfoundations of external economies of scale. The best known of these sources are those attributed to Marshall (1920): labor market pooling, input sharing, and knowledge spillovers. Evidence to date supports the presence of all three of these forces. In addition, there is also evidence that natural advantage, home market effects, consumption opportunities, and rent-seeking all contribute to agglomeration.},
  urldate = {2017-10-28},
  booktitle = {Handbook of {Regional} and {Urban} {Economics}},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  author = {Rosenthal, Stuart S. and Strange, William C.},
  editor = {Henderson, J. Vernon and Thisse, Jacques-François},
  month = jan,
  year = {2004},
  note = {DOI: 10.1016/S1574-0080(04)80006-3},
  keywords = {agglomeration economies, external economies, microfoundations, productivity, urban growth},
  pages = {2119--2171}

Chapter 38 Agglomeration economies and urban public infrastructure by Eberts and McMillen. Cited by 252

  @incollection{eberts_chapter_1999,
  series = {Applied {Urban} {Economics}},
  title = {Chapter 38 {Agglomeration} economies and urban public infrastructure},
  volume = {3},
  url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574008099800078},
  abstract = {This chapter reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on agglomeration economies and urban public infrastructure. Theory links the two concepts by positing that agglomeration economies exist when firms in an urban area share a public good as an input to production. One type of shareable input is the close proximity of businesses and labor, that generates positive externalities which in turn lower the production cost of one business as the output of other businesses increases. The externalities result from businesses sharing nonexcludable inputs, such as a common labor pool, technical expertise, general knowledge and personal contacts. Another perhaps more tangible type of shareable input is urban public infrastructure. Public capital stock, such as highways, water treatment facilities, and communication systems, directly affect the efficient operation of cities by facilitating business activities and improving worker productivity. The literature has devoted considerable attention to both topics, but not together. Studies of agglomeration economies in several countries find that manufacturing firms are more productive in large cities than in smaller ones. Studies of the effect of infrastructure on productivity show positive, but in some cases statistically insignificant, effects of public capital stock on productivity. Most of these studies are at the national and state levels. Only a handful of studies have focused on the metropolitan level, and even fewer have estimated agglomeration economies and infrastructure effects simultaneously. Results from studies that include both types of shared inputs suggest that both spatial proximity and physical infrastructure contribute positively to the productivity of firms in urban areas. More research is needed to explore the interrelationships between urban size and urban public infrastructure and to open the “black box” of agglomeration economies and estimate how the various other factors associated with urban size affect productivity.},
  urldate = {2017-11-07},
  booktitle = {Handbook of {Regional} and {Urban} {Economics}},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  author = {Eberts, Randall W. and McMillen, Daniel P.},
  month = jan,
  year = {1999},
  note = {DOI: 10.1016/S1574-0080(99)80007-8},
  keywords = {Agglomeration economies, optimal city size, productivity, urban public infrastructure},
  pages = {1455--1495}

Economics of Agglomeration by Masahisa Fujita and acques-François Thisse. Cited by 1055

  @article{fujita_economics_1996, 
  title = {Economics of {Agglomeration}},
  volume = {10},
  issn = {0889-1583},
  url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889158396900210},
  doi = {10.1006/jjie.1996.0021},
  abstract = {We address the fundamental question arising in geographical economics: why do economic activities agglomerate in a small number of places? The main reasons for the formation of economic clusters involving firms and/or households are analyzed: (i) externalities under perfect competition; (ii) increasing returns under monopolistic competition; and (iii) spatial competition under strategic interaction. We review what has been accomplished in these three domains and identify a few general principles governing the organization of economic space. A few alternative, new approaches are also proposed.J. Japan. Int. Econ.,December 1996,10(4), pp. 339–378. Kyoto University and University of Pennsylvania; and CORE, Université Catholique de Louvain and CERAS–ENPC (URA 2036, CNRS).},
  number = {4},
  urldate = {2017-11-06},
  journal = {Journal of the Japanese and International Economies},
  author = {Fujita, Masahisa and Thisse, Jacques-François},
  month = dec,
  year = {1996},
  pages = {339--378}

The New Economics Off Innovation, Spillovers And Agglomeration: A review Of Empirical Studies by Maryann P. Feldman. Cited by 932.

  @article{feldman_new_1999,
  title = {The {New} {Economics} {Of} {Innovation}, {Spillovers} {And} {Agglomeration}: {Areview} {Of} {Empirical} {Studies}},
  volume = {8},
  issn = {1043-8599},
  shorttitle = {The {New} {Economics} {Of} {Innovation}, {Spillovers} {And} {Agglomeration}},
  url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10438599900000002},
  doi = {10.1080/10438599900000002},
  abstract = {This paper reviews recent empirical studies of location and innovation. The objective is to highlight the questions addressed, approaches adopted, and further issues that remain. The review is organized around the traditions of measuring geographically mediated spillovers and productivity studies that introduce a geographic dimension. The first part identities four separate strains in the empirical spillover literature: innovation production functions; the linkages between patent citations. defined as paper trails: the rnobility of skilled labor based on the notion that knowledge spillovers are transmitted through people; and, last, knowledge spillovers embodied in traded goods. The second part considers the composition of agglomeration economies, the attributes of knowledge, and the characteristics of firms.},
  number = {1-2},
  urldate = {2017-10-28},
  journal = {Economics of Innovation and New Technology},
  author = {Feldman, Maryann P.},
  month = jan,
  year = {1999},
  keywords = {Geography, Innovation, L2, Location JEL Classification: 03, Spillovers},
  pages = {5--25}

Agglomeration benefits and location choice by Keith Head.

  @article{head_agglomeration_1995,
  title = {Agglomeration benefits and location choice: {Evidence} from {Japanese} manufacturing investments in the {United} {States}},
  volume = {38},
  issn = {0022-1996},
  shorttitle = {Agglomeration benefits and location choice},
  url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/002219969401351R},
  doi = {10.1016/0022-1996(94)01351-R},
  abstract = {Recent theories of economic geography suggest that firms in the same industry may be drawn to the same locations because proximity generates positive externalities or ‘agglomeration effects’. Under this view, chance events and government inducements can have a lasting influence on the geographical pattern of manufacturing. However, most evidence on the causes and magnitude of industry localization has been based on stories, rather than statistics. This paper examines the location choices of 751 Japanese manufacturing plants built in the United States since 1980. Conditional logit estimates support the hypothesis that industry-level agglomeration benefits play an important role in location decisions.},
  number = {3},
  urldate = {2017-11-06},
  journal = {Journal of International Economics},
  author = {Head, Keith and Ries, John and Swenson, Deborah},
  month = may,
  year = {1995},
  keywords = {Agglomeration, Foreign direct investment},
  pages = {223--247}

The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship by Zoltan Acs. Cited by 1037

  @article{acs_knowledge_2009,
  title = {The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship},
  volume = {32},
  issn = {0921-898X, 1573-0913},
  url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-008-9157-3},
  doi = {10.1007/s11187-008-9157-3},
  abstract = {Contemporary theories of entrepreneurship generally focus on the recognition of opportunities and the decision to exploit them. Although the entrepreneurship literature treats opportunities as exogenous, the prevailing theory of economic growth suggests they are endogenous. This paper advances the microeconomic foundations of endogenous growth theory by developing a knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. Knowledge created endogenously results in knowledge spillovers, which allow entrepreneurs to identify and exploit opportunities.},
  language = {en},
  number = {1},
  urldate = {2017-11-10},
  journal = {Small Business Economics},
  author = {Acs, Zoltan J. and Braunerhjelm, Pontus and Audretsch, David B. and Carlsson, Bo},
  month = jan,
  year = {2009},
  pages = {15--30}

Corporate Growth Convergence in Europe by Paul Geroski and Klaus Gugler. Cited by 179

  @article{geroski_corporate_2004,
   title = {Corporate {Growth} {Convergence} in {Europe}},
  volume = {56},
  issn = {0030-7653},
  url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/3488800},
  abstract = {It is widely believed that the implementation of the Single Market Programme in 1992 has induced a transformation in industrial structures across Europe. Some people believe that it has driven Europe towards a common industrial structure. However, using a newly available database covering nearly every firm above 100 employees in 14 European countries over the time period 1994 to 1998, the hypothesis of convergence in corporate sizes within industries is unambiguously rejected by the data. A Gibrat process best describes the growth of very large and mature firms, but smaller and younger firms depart from this prediction. Pre-post 1992 comparisons using another database for larger listed firms reveal that the speed of convergence actually decreased post-1992.},
  number = {4},
  urldate = {2017-11-10},
  journal = {Oxford Economic Papers},
  author = {Geroski, Paul and Gugler, Klaus},
  year = {2004},
  pages = {597--620}

Regional Advantage by AnnaLee Saxenian. Cited by 11567

  @misc{noauthor_regional_nodate,
  title = {Regional {Advantage} — {AnnaLee} {Saxenian} {\textbar} {Harvard} {University} {Press}},
  url = {http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674753402},
  abstract = {Why is it that business in California's Silicon Valley flourished while along Route 128 in Massachusetts declined in the 90s? The answer, Saxenian suggests, has to do with the fact that despite similar histories and technologies, Silicon Valley developed a decentralized but cooperative industrial system while Route 128 came to be dominated by independent, self-sufficient corporations. The result of more than one hundred interviews, this compelling analysis highlights the importance of local sources of competitive advantage in a volatile world economy.},
  urldate = {2017-11-10}

GIS mapping

Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration by Stuart S. Rosenthal and William C. Strange. Cited by 1238. Fit in category (2) and (3)

  @article{rosenthal_geography_2003,
  title = {Geography, {Industrial} {Organization}, and {Agglomeration}},
  volume = {85},
  issn = {0034-6535},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1162/003465303765299882},
  doi = {10.1162/003465303765299882},
  abstract = {This paper makes two contributions to the empirical literature on agglomeration economies. First, the paper uses a unique and rich database in conjunction with mapping software to measure the geographic extent of agglomerative externalities. Previous papers have been forced to assume that agglomeration economies are club goods that operate at a metropolitan scale. Second, the paper tests for the existence of organizational agglomeration economies of the kind studied qualitatively by Saxenian (1994). This is a potentially important source of increasing returns that previous empirical work has not considered. Results indicate that localization economies attenuate rapidly and that industrial organization affects the benefits of agglomeration.},
  number = {2},
  urldate = {2017-11-06},
  journal = {The Review of Economics and Statistics},
  author = {Rosenthal, Stuart S. and Strange, William C.},
  month = may,
  year = {2003},
  pages = {377--393}

Where is Creativity in the City? Integrating Qualitative and GIS Methods by Chris Brennan-Horley and Chris Gibson

  @article{brennan-horley_where_2009,
  title = {Where is {Creativity} in the {City}? {Integrating} {Qualitative} and {GIS} {Methods}},
  volume = {41},
  issn = {0308-518X},
  shorttitle = {Where is {Creativity} in the {City}?},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1068/a41406},
  doi = {10.1068/a41406},
  abstract = {This paper discusses a new blend of methods developed to answer the question of where creativity is in the city. Experimentation with new methods was required because of empirical shortcomings with existing creative city research techniques; but also to respond to increasingly important questions of where nascent economic activities occur outside the formal sector, and governmental spheres of planning and economic development policy. In response we discuss here how qualitative methods can be used to address such concerns, based on experiences from an empirical project charged with the task of documenting creative activity in Darwin—a small city in Australia's tropical north. Diverse creative practitioners were interviewed about their interactions with the city—and hard-copy maps were used as anchoring devices around spatially orientated interview questions. Results from this interview-mapping process were accumulated and analysed in a geographical information system (GIS). Digital maps produced by this method revealed patterns of concentration and imagined ‘epicentres’ of creativity in Darwin, and showed how types of sites and spaces of the city are imagined as ‘creative’ in different ways. Qualitative mapping of creativity enabled the teasing out of contradictory and divergent stories of the location of creativity in the urban landscape. The opportunities which such methods present for researchers interested in how economic activities are ‘lived’ by workers, situated in social networks, and reproduced in everyday, material, spaces of the city are described.},
  language = {en},
  number = {11},
  urldate = {2017-11-07},
  journal = {Environment and Planning A},
  author = {Brennan-Horley, Chris and Gibson, Chris},
  month = nov,
  year = {2009},
  pages = {2595--2614}