The City as an Entertainment Machine, Volume 9 (Research in Urban Policy) (Research in Urban Policy)

325 Pages·2003·2.49 MB·English

by  Terry Nichols Clark

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION:TAKINGENTERTAINMENT
SERIOUSLY
TerryNicholsClark 1
2. APOLITICALTHEORYOFCONSUMPTION
TerryNicholsClark 19
3. URBANAMENITIES:LAKES,OPERA,ANDJUICE
BARS:DOTHEYDRIVEDEVELOPMENT?
TerryNicholsClark 103
4. GLOBALIZATIONANDTHELIMINAL:
TRANSGRESSION,IDENTITYANDTHEURBAN
PRIMITIVE
LaurenLangmanandKatieCangemi 141
5. CONSUMERSANDCITIES
EdwardL.Glaeser,JedKolkoandAlbertSaiz 177
6. THENEWPOLITICALCULTUREANDLOCAL
GOVERNMENTINENGLAND
AnneBartlettwithTerryNicholsClarkandDennisMerritt 185
7. TECHNOLOGYANDTOLERANCE:THEIMPORTANCE
OFDIVERSITYTOHIGH-TECHNOLOGYGROWTH
RichardFloridaandGaryGates 199
8. GAYSANDURBANDEVELOPMENT:HOWARETHEY
LINKED?
TerryNicholsClark 221
vii
viii
9. AMENITIES:RECENTECONOMICSTUDIES
AlexeiZelenev 235
10. THEINTERNATIONALMAYOR
TerryNicholsClarkwithDennisMerrittandLenkaSiroky 253
11. STARBUCKS,BICYCLEPATHS,ANDURBAN
GROWTHMACHINES:EMAILSAMONGMEMBERS
OFURBANANDCOMMUNITYSECTIONOF
AMERICANSOCIOLOGICALASSOCIATION.
LISTSERVE
CompiledbyTerryNicholsClark 275
12. AMENITIESDRIVEURBANGROWTH:ANEW
PARADIGMANDPOLICYLINKAGES
TerryNicholsClarkwithRichardLloyd,
KennethK.Wong,andPushpamJain 291
ABOUTTHEAUTHORS 323
1. INTRODUCTION: TAKING
ENTERTAINMENT SERIOUSLY
Terry Nichols Clark
Thisvolumeanalyzeshowconsumptionandentertainmentrelatetopoliticsand
urbandevelopment.Peoplebothliveandworkincities.Andwheretheychooseto
liveshiftswhereandhowtheywork.Thisvolume,asthelastsentencesuggests,
exploresreversingthecausalprocessesnormallyassumedtodrivecities.
Amenities enter here as new public concerns for many cities in the U.S.
and much of Northern Europe. Old ways of thinking, old paradigms – such as
“land, labor, capital, and management generate economic development” – are
too simple. The developers’ classic “location, location, location” is similarly
incomplete – location near what? This new, barely charted terrain is critical for
policy makers. Urban public officials, business, and non-profit leaders are using
culture,entertainment,andurbanamenitiesto(seekto)enhancetheirlocations–
forpresentandfutureresidents,tourists,conventioneers,andshoppers.Theyare
makingmulti-billiondollarinvestmentsinamenities,hopingthatthesearesound
investments.NewYorkandChicagonowreportthattheirfirstorsecondlargestin-
dustrialsectorisentertainmentorculture.Theworld’slargestindustryistourism,
by some counts (reports differ with assumptions about what comprises tourism)
(Molotch,inpress).
What do we know about these issues, to help codify such policies? What is
the current knowledge base and how can we extend it? This book joins work
on these concerns from creative thinking in economics, sociology, political
science,publicpolicy,geography,andrelatedfields.Manyideasbelowchallenge
the established urban wisdom. The most important single challenge is the
TheCityasanEntertainmentMachine
ResearchinUrbanPolicy,Volume9,1–17
Copyright©2004byElsevierLtd.
Allrightsofreproductioninanyformreserved
ISSN:1479-3520/doi:10.1016/S1479-3520(03)09001-9
1
2 TERRYNICHOLSCLARK
emphasis in each chapter on consumption, amenities, and culture as drivers
of urban policy. There is considerable evidence below about how these drive
people to move to or from different cities and regions, and how they are
especiallycriticalinattractinginnovativepersons–thecreativeclasspeoplethat
Florida (2002) stresses as catalysts in making the modern economy and high
techhum.
Too much past work treated entertainment as trivia or fluff, not real business.
Further, among many moralistic observers, entertainment is immoral. Among
manyleftistobservers,itisalsocounterrevolutionary,anopiumforthepeoplethat
shouldbefought.Thisisnowallchanging,gradually,butwestillhaveprecious
littleseriousanalysisofculture,entertainment,andamenity-relatedphenomena.
Researchers far more often study work, the disadvantaged, or socially deviant.
Canthesefieldslearnfromwhatisbelow?Wethinkso.
What is our focus? Entertainment, consumption, and amenities as they relate
to politics and urban development. These distinct concepts are explored below.
But the book’s bigger message is that all these contrast with the more common
assumption:workandproductiondrivelifeandgiveitmeaning.Thiscommonas-
sumptioninformsthematerialistviewthat“moneytalks,”ortheMarxistemphasis
onrelationstothemeansofproduction,orthepsychologicalview(ofMaslowor
Inglehart)thatbasicwantsarehierarchicallyordered,withthephysical/material
atthebottom.DidtheendoftheDot-ComboomorterroristattacksofSeptember
11th, 2001 bring the end of consumption? Even among those committed to a
totallymaterialistworldview,atimeofeconomicturbulenceandcutbacksmeans
disruptivechangesforpeople’sconsumptionpatterns,implyingpossiblejealousy
andinvidiouscomparisonswithotherswhoareseenasengaginginoverlyconspic-
uousconsumption,plusressentimenttowardbankersorglobalforcesorpolitical
leadersthatmayhavebroughtonsuchchange.ThecorepropositionsofChapter2
explorehowandwhysuchreactionsarechanneledindifferentwaysbydifferent
subcultures.
Tocounterthesesimplematerialist/productionviews,itishelpfultonotethat
ethnographers have shown that some preliterate societies contribute their most
treasuredobjectstoreligiousworship,includingartanddance.Itdoesnotfollow,
universally, that “only the affluent can afford culture and entertainment.” They
interpenetrateallofourlives,ifwelook.Howandwhyspecificculturalpatterns
andprioritiesaredefined,andhowtheyshift,arepursuedbelow.
Much of the excitement in this book came from discovering our independent
convergence on amenities, consumption, and entertainment. But once Edward
Glaeser, Richard Florida, Gary Gates, Bill Bishop, and I found each other and
others with overlapping interests, we have actively exchanged papers, met at
conferences, and helped arrange discussions on these issues. Some of the most
Introduction 3
dramaticsessionshavebeenwithgroupswhopreviouslyignoredorevenopposed
amenitiesinconsideringurbandevelopmentandpublicpolicy.
Economistsareoftenconsiderednaturaladvocatesofamaterialistoreconomic
interpretation,suchasusingcapitalandlandtoexplainwhycitiesgrowordecline.
Butifthismayfitmanyeconomists–aswellasbusinessmagazinewritersandthe
generalpublic–ahandfulofeconomistshavebeenleadersinanalyzingamenities
seriously.Forsome20years,afeweconomistshavestudiedcleanair,moderate
temperatures, and other amenities, often gauging their impacts on land value,
bycomparinglocationswithfeweramenities.Thismethodof“hedonicpricing”
thus assigns a dollar value to such ostensibly nebulous things as clean air. We
include a bibliography of these studies (Chap. 9) to flag this work for the many
persons who still doubt the importance of amenities. Why economists? If these
were art critics, few might be persuaded. But if even economists have come to
stressamenities–aseconomistsingeneralhavenotbeenprofessionallyfocused
onbeaches,cleanair,andopera–thenwemaybeontofactorsthatdemandmore
attention,evenbynon-economists.
Considertwoexamplesillustratingtherecentbutimportantrecognitionofthe
importanceofentertainmentandamenities.Inthemid-1990s,theChicagoFederal
ReserveBankprovidedurbaneconomicanalysesofMidwesterncities.Itreported
20orsobasicindicators,virtuallyallconcernedwithproductionandpopulation
change. I approached William Testa, Senior Economist at the Chicago Fed, and
asked,howaboutconsumptionandamenities,likerestaurants,shopping,tourists,
or conventions? He came to one of our meetings, and the next year organized
a conference at the Chicago Fed specifically on amenities. Some 60 persons
attended,mainlyeconomists.EdwardGlaeserandImadepresentationsfeaturing
amenities. A few speakers countered with strong “amenities are spurious” argu-
ments, but as we saw examples mount, discussion shifted to support amenities.
By the end of the day, roughly a third of the participants visibly accepted the
importance of amenities, another third were opposed, and a third wavered. Not
badforaday’swork.
The second example is the Urban and Community Section of the American
Sociological Association, some 400 persons who communicate nearly daily on
alistserve,aquasi-permanentemailconferenceinvolvingeveryonewhochooses
to participate. I would guesstimate that until recently the majority view was
that amenities were largely driven by economic factors, rather than vice versa,
although many participants had probably not explored the matter. In the Fall of
2002,IcirculatedadraftofthechapteronUrbanAmenitiesbelow.Severalpersons
immediatelycriticized,evenlampooned,it.RayHutchinsonwrote:“Shouldcities
offerStarbucksurbanhomesteadingcreditstolocateindepressedneighborhoods
so that these and other urban amenities can encourage yuppies to move into the
4 TERRYNICHOLSCLARK
area?” Debate ensued. By the second week the entire tone shifted, with even
the most outspoken critics reversing themselves. The discussion mounted over
the Fall, generating some 100 pages of email, as people advanced all sorts of
evidence, arguments, and counter arguments (Urban and Community Section of
the American Sociological Association, Listserve, 2002). After three months,
evenself-declaredMarxistsacceptedthevisibleimportanceofamenitiesforurban
growth. Such shifts in this direction by notoriously skeptical and independent
persons provide strong testimony to the importance of studying entertainment
(seeChap.11).
Several of us have been writing and discussing these themes in lectures and
conferencesaroundthecountry,butafterRichardFlorida’sbookTheRiseofThe
CreativeClasscameoutin2002,therewasahugeincreaseinattentiontorelated
concerns. The book became a blockbuster, one of the best-selling non-fiction
books in the U.S., and was discussed in lively sessions with mayors and civic
leaders across the U.S., Canada, and various other countries. Themes from the
book have helped focus innumerable conferences and professional association
discussions, from the U.S. Conference of Mayors to high tech forums to the
AmericanAssociationfortheArts.Florida’swebsiteincludescomputerplayable
interviews and discussions from talk shows and forums around the country.
www.creativeclass.org The book advances arguments shared in several papers
below, although there are enough controversial differences to spark debate. A
coreideaisthatpasttheoriesofurbandevelopmentstressedcapital,thenhuman
capital,butdidnotaskwhatattractedhumancapital(i.e.talentedpeople)tosome
citiesmorethanothers.Floridasuggestedthatamenitiesmattered,asdidtolerance
–asregisteredbynumerousgaysresidinginthearea.Butjustwhatistolerance?
MORALITYPLAYS:THEPOLITICSOF
IMAGININGPEOPLEANDGROUPS
We all do it. We label persons or groups as chic, funky, chauvinist, cool, Uncle
Tom, nerdy, liberated, Baby Boomers, and more. Political and religious leaders
similarly make moral statements, for instance by applying Biblical characters’
namestocontemporarieslikeBillClintonorSaddamHussein–asSatanicalora
GoodSamaritan.MuslimsanalogouslyinvoketheKoran.
Social scientists debate social trends by inventing images and labels like
bowlingalone,racist,innerdirected,orThirdWay.
ToexploretheimpactofcontroversialindividualslikeBillClintonorMonica
Lewinsky,manyuselabelsthatjointhemtodeeperculturaldivisionsandconflicts.
Consumption,longconsideredanareawherebrandsandlabelsdrivedecisions,is
Introduction 5
becomingacriticalfocusofpolitics,nationallyandincities,complementingmore
traditionalissuesofproduction,work,andeventaxes.Whyisthissoimportant?
It signals a deeper transformation of politics away from the classic issues and
resources exchanged in class politics and clientelism toward a New Political
Culture–amajorthesisdevelopedelsewhere(e.g.Clark&Hoffmann-Martinot,
1998). Citizens and the media rise to replace unions and parties, as new leaders
succeed by redefining the rules of the game by which politics is played (cross-
nationaldifferencesandchangesaredetailedinChap.10below).Populistleaders
invoke the legitimacy of the average citizen, and denigrate party leaders and
traditional social and religious elites. The consumer/citizen is celebrated, along
with aspects of the lives of average citizens like “human interest” stories in the
press, TV “news,” and personal anecdotes unveiled in talk shows – which were
previouslybeyondthepaleofpublicfocusorpolitics.Simultaneously,however,
somepersonscounterthesetendenciesbyattackingtheexcessesofindividualist
egalitarianism,andcallingforanewmoralism.Theso-called“religiousright”is
themostvisibleexample,andsurveyssuggestthatsome20%oftheU.S.public
supportastrictercodeofpublicmorality.
Thechaptersinthisvolumeexploretheseissuesinmultiplecontexts,usinga
variety of methods, evidence, and analyses. Rather than justifying our views by
invoking grand theorists from the past, or assembling quotations from average
persons, we often compare political systems that differ in how they operate,
especially local governments. Why? Cities are ideal fruit flies to interpret
biggerdevelopments,ascitieslikeBeverlyHillsorJerusalemchangefasterand
illuminate extremes more completely than do national societies. These outlier
cities, in addition to the Middletowns, can help chart and interpret complex
processes–viacasestudiesaswellasstatisticalmethods.
Consider tattoos, longhaired men, or skinheads. Lauren Langman (Chap. 4)
andothersinterpretthesepersonalconsumptionchangesassemipoliticalattacks
on “the establishment,” by visibly relabeling one’s body in a manner that the
Parisianbohemiansofthenineteenthcenturysaidwoulde´paterlebourgeois,or
today shock the middle class. The consumer/citizen can thus make a powerful
politicalstatementinanactofpersonalconsumption.Thisisfarmorepowerful
thanasecret,privatevote,sincethebodyisdisplayedallday,everyday,forlife.
Others act politically in different consumption modes, for instance endorsing
ecologicalconcernsbynotusingplasticcupsornotowningacar,butinsteadby
recyclingpaperandusingpublictransportation.
Still others participate in consumer boycotts, refusing to buy products like
those made in South Africa under Apartheid or Nike shoes made in sweat-
shops. In 2002, the largest purchaser of beef and chicken in the world, the
McDonalds Corporation, agreed with animal rights activists and required
6 TERRYNICHOLSCLARK
humane animal husbandry practices for all its suppliers – at costs estimated in
thebillions.
These are all examples of politics interpenetrating consumption in ways that
broadcastastrongmoralandpoliticalmessage.Oftenthesearecarefullychosenor
stagedtoleveragetheact,usuallyviamassmedia,farmorevisiblythan“normal”
politics. Activists often start with what may seem to be a trivial issue, but by
labelingitasacriticalmarker(e.g.a“non-negotiabledemand”),itispowerfully
elevated. It becomes a moral issue. This is particularly striking in locations
like Southern Italy or much of Latin America, for instance, where traditionally
morality and politics were considered totally separate. When President Jimmy
Carterspokeabout“humanrights”inthe1970s,theEuropeanpressandpolitical
leaderslargelylampoonedtheissuesasthoseofanAmericancountrybumpkin,
unschooled in the cosmopolitan manners of world diplomacy – that is, power
politicsinthetraditionalsense.Indeedtheentiresubdisciplineofpoliticalscience
calledIR,InternationalRelations,evenintheU.S.,isonlystartingaftertheyear
2000tobreakwithitslongpast–the“realism”doctrineofHansMorgenthauand
HenryKissinger–tointroducenon-military,non-economic,andnon-geographic
considerations. That is, to start to incorporate moral issues like human rights in
“serious”analysisandpolicyadvising.
BowlingAlone(Putnam,2000)hassparkedpoliticaldebateglobally.Why?Is
not bowling a trivial consumption act? Precisely, Putnam replies, but adds that
more Americans bowl than join the Democratic or Republican parties. Yet why
should a political scientist like Putnam care? A first answer is that not only are
bowling leagues declining, so are unions and civic and organized groups, and
voting in most countries. Much debate has focused on the type and magnitude
ofdecline.
Butthesecond,deeperissuebowlingaloneraisesismoral:doesbowlingalone,
rather than supporting community bowling groups, signal moral decay? Debate
here has focused on the decline of organizations as training grounds for civic
leadership.AsTocquevillesuggested,thiswasakeytraitofpopulardemocracy.
“Socialcapital,”Putnamholds,declinesasgroupsshrink.(Thisledsomecritics
like Skocpol et al., 2000, to counter that Putnam confused the dynamics of
organizational membership; they instead stressed national processes like war
andwelfarestatebuildingasdrivingmembership.Yetthiscriticismsaysalmost
nothingofcultureandvalues.)
The deeper concern, the moral bite, the broader echos from Bowling Alone,
Isuggest,arenotdocumentingdeclinesinvotingturnoutorgroupmembership.
Itisratherthemoraldegeneracywhichtheyimplywhichissoprovocative.Does
theirdeclineindicatethatwearegrowingintomoreselfishindividualists,driven
by greed and markets rather than civic responsiveness to people around us? Is
Introduction 7
there less concern for the poor, since many civic groups have at least partially
charitableconcerns?
Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and Gerhard Schroeder are similarly attacked as
craven,nastypeople,firstsincetheyabandonedtheleftprogramsoftheirparties
andthepoor,secondsincetheyweresopoliticallysuccessfulindoingso,andthird
because they were inauthentic, morally uprooted, and blew wherever the wind
tookthem.
Yet even in Clinton’s darkest political hour, when the U.S. Congress held
hearingstoimpeachhimforhisrelationswithaideMonicaLewinsky,Clinton’s
support with the U.S. public rose, at least as recorded in the standard public
approval ratings (Clark, 2002). The visible public concern about hedonism and
personal morality – as quintessentially illustrated by the Clinton impeachment
effort – documents the deep divisions characterizing American society. Political
battlesinFranceandTurkeyoverwhetherMuslimwomenmustormustnotcover
their heads, or concern with genetically engineered foods (mainly in Western
Europe),illustratetheextenttowhichpersonalconsumptionissueshavebecome
openlyandwidely,ifnotglobally,politicized.
Debates flare precisely because “personal consumption,” especially in enter-
tainment,isamorallyloadedactforsome,yetforothersisnotatall.Thissignals
theneedforadeeperculturalanalysistointerpretthesedifferencesinmeaningof
ostensiblysimilarbehaviors.
The deeper point: bowling alone, McDonalds, animal rights, and recycling
shouldbeconsiderednotasisolatedanddisparateissues.Rathertheyflowfrom
deeper and more comprehensive cultural conflicts explored below. These issues
arecontemporary,butarealsoextensionsofolderpatterns;ithelpstodigbackto
unravelthepresent.Themoralimpactoftheseissuesisbroadbecausetheyflag
concernssharedbymanypersons,increasinglyaroundtheglobe.
Theyarepartofapopulistpolitics,whichisbringingmoreissuesincreasingly
totheaveragecitizenforarbitration,atleastsymbolically.RonaldReaganwould
regularly say “we have our people working on that issue” whereas Bill Clinton,
TonyBlair,andotherssoughttoexplainandinterpretmajorpoliciestotheaverage
citizen,heavilyusingthemedia.
Details of wartime military campaigns are aired on television even while in
process. Generals complain that they can no longer command or expect solders
to give their lives; that is leaders and their policies are increasingly held to the
same standards of morality as average citizens. If the U.S. may seem to have
led in such media-driven populism, many European and other countries have
quickly followed, and gone further in areas like women’s rights in Scandanavia
andgreenpoliticsinGermany.Globalhumanrights,movementsforwomen,and
international tribunals cut far deeper and cross borders in ways unthinkable just