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Manchester is favourite with 'new bohemians'
Manchester is the UK’s answer to San Francisco, according to the Boho Britain creativity indexwhich ranks the creative potential of major cities using specially commissioned data.
The Boho Britain index was produced using a simplified version of a research tool developed by Richard Florida, the US economic regeneration expert who visits the UK next week.
Florida measured the appeal of American cities to the new creative class, which he argues are a key indicator of a city’s economic health. For the Boho Britain survey, the UK’s 40 largest cities were ranked using three of the creativity indicators identified by Florida: ethnic diversity; proportion of gay residents, and the number of patent applications per head.
Florida will address a major London conference called Boho Britain which will consider the links between creativity and urban renewal in the UK. The conference is co-hosted by Demos, the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Manchester tops the Boho Britain index of the UK’s 40 largest cities as a result of its mix of ethnic diversity, gay friendliness and technological innovation. Leicester and London share second place, suggesting that creative potential of UK cities is not confined to national and regional centres.
Instead of the Castro, San Francisco’s famous gay village, Manchester has the vibrant Canal Street area featured in Channel 4 series, Queer as Folk. And in place of the University of California at Berkley – the university with close links to Silicon Valley – Manchester has UMIST, the renowned science and technology institute.
According to specially commissioned Patent Office figures, Manchester comes top of the ranking for patent applications, which is accounted partly for its concentration of higher education institutions and technology companies. This is the first time the Patent Office has ranked the innovative capacity of cities by number of patent applications.
‘Most centres of technology-based business growth also have high concentrations of gay couples,’ says Florida. ‘What I have found is that straight men and women also look for a visible gay community as an indication that a city is likely to be an exciting place to live.’
Florida’s index of US cities ranks San Francisco ahead of Austin, Boston and San Diego; The US top ten contained a number of second tier cities, with New York pushed into ninth place.
Of the five cities shortlisted as 2008 European city of culture included in the Boho Britain list, Bristol comes out top at 5, with Birmingham at 7, Liverpool at 17 and Newcastle/Gateshead is 21st.
But if Oxford, which is outside the top 40 by population, had been included in the list it would come second, ahead of London and Leicester. Both Oxford and Cambridge score highly because of their diverse student populations and high concentration of technology research facilities which generate numerous patent applications.
‘Creative, innovative and entrepreneurial activities tend to flourish in the same kinds of places that attract gays and others outside the norm,’ says Flroida. ‘When people with varied backgrounds and attitudes collide, economic growth is likely.’
The UK index was carried out ahead of the Boho Britain conference to illustrate the link between creativity and economic regeneration in UK cities. Florida used a wider range of creativity indicators. It’s also possible that some of Britain’s smaller towns and cities could score highly in the index, which was confined to the 40 largest cities.
Notes to editors
- Boho Britain, which has been jointly organised by Demos, BURA and RICS, is on 27 May 2003 in London. The event is sold out but there is a limited number of press places in the overspill room.
- Demos is an independent think tank which has a long-track record of work on creativity, innovation and cities.
- BURA is the leading independent organisation in the field of regeneration. It is co-hosting Boho Britain as part of its GRADE project (Global Regeneration and Development Exchange) which shares best practice between the UK and individuals and organisations involved with economic development and regeneration worldwide.
- RICS is the world’s leading professional body addressing all aspects of land, property, construction and environmental issues.
- Richard Florida is a professor of economic development at Carnegie Mellon University. His book The Rise of the Creative Class is published by Viking; for more information visit www.creativeclass.org