On the 21st of April 2009, Hans Karssenberg of Stipo presented an article for the ‘Talk of the Town’ debate in the Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The subject: An inspection into Amsterdam as the creative capital of the Netherlands.
For this article, the ‘Bureau Broedplaatsen' partnered with Stipo in 2010 and 2011 with the aim to process the thoughts behind the policies regarding art factories. In collaboration with the capital's creative field, a new strategy was designed. This strategy will soon be published.
Creative Economy: How can Amsterdam's focus on infrastructural investment be diverted?
How can you appraise Amsterdam as ‘the creative capital of the Netherlands', when you know that many cities, both inside and outside the Netherlands look up to its policy for ‘broedplaatsen' (a literal translation would be ‘breeding places', meaning art factories, creative incubators)? Out of every two artists, one lives in Amsterdam and the city accommodates over 50 'broedplaatsen'. Almost all cultural buildings are expanding considerably.
Amsterdam has many strong points to build on: a historic inner-city with a thriving atmosphere: something which is crucial for social interaction in a creative knowledge-based economy. And Amsterdam is located close to Schiphol; probably the real central city of the region in terms of connectivity, the economy and the prosperity it generates. In short: Amsterdam seems to have it all.
Nonetheless: let us try to examine the city more closely. This cannot be done by comparing the 2 million citizens of (for instance) Rotterdam to those in Amsterdam. This method would be far too simplistic. It is fascinating, however, to look at urban examples elsewhere.
What is Amsterdam's ambition?
One could ask: how can you outline what is currently happening in Amsterdam against the city's ambitions -or against the ambitions the city should have? In October 2008, municipal magistrate Carolien Gehrels proclaimed a Third Golden Age for Amsterdam, primarily fed by its creative economy (or its ‘creative society'). Facts and figures have revealed that Amsterdam is incredibly strong when it comes to building its infrastructure for the creative economy. And this is great... but is it sufficient? Isn't more needed when regarding this from an urban strategic point of view?
The presence of ‘creativity' is an essential component when forming the creative economy. It forms the linking chains from the NDSM (a former wharf turned into an art factory) to the Zuidas (the new high-end business area of Amsterdam): i.e. if creativity were to vanish, Amsterdam's competitive advantage as an International city would desiccate so to speak. This thus raises the question: what do these ‘linking chains' from the NDSM to the Zuidas actually look like? How do they work? And: who drives these?
Smart cities
What are the current strategic demands of cities? In terms of International competition, it is the smart cities that do well. These cities respond to the ‘economy of new ideas' and they do so through what makes them distinctive: their authentic soul. The profiles have to fit in the set layers that are already present in these cities: i.e. Arhem as fashion city, Rotterdam as architecture city.
According to the book ‘Slimme Steden' (Smart Cities), which presents a series of examples of innovative cities across Europe, smart cities are those that make the most of what the city already has to offer. It is therefore something that cannot be created: it must already be present in the city. The question thus is: what do we do with it? It is these smart cities that manage to form coalitions and linkages between connecting themes that lie at the heart of their society and economic clusters.
The birth of the renaissance: Florence, 1400
A classic example of a Smart City was Florence circa 1400. It is the city that gave birth to the renaissance. In a 25 year period, Florence experienced an explosion of creativity. If you ask an art historian to name his or her top 10 important European art works, chances are high that at least 5 of those were created in Florence that 25 year period. But how was this possible? Did Florence in particular have more artists? Or did it have more access to knowledge due to previous scientific discoveries? Because other cities had the same chances available to them.
What made Florence stand out was its enormous surplus of money: the textile merchants in Florence had developed a special credit loan system which enabled the reigning rulers to purchase wool from a distance. This translated into huge capital amounts, which caused tension with neighbouring cities and within the city itself (with the growing gap between rich and poor). The 
benefiting powerful families, such as the Medici family, thus decided to employ a strategy of consciously investing in beauty, believing that ‘that which is beautiful, will not be destroyed'.
By adopting this strategy, those in power intentionally attracted artists, designers, architects and scientists... and their demands were high! Their intentions were not to merely hire these creative people, let them do their jobs, pay them and let that be that. They knew exactly what these people were capable of and what their specialties entailed. It was consequently not uncommon that cathedrals were built and left without a roof for decades because the employer was unsatisfied with the design.
Nevertheless, Amsterdam seems to have adopted the former strategy. The city essentially provides the infrastructure and lets its users decide what to do with it. The questions that arise are thus: who are those in power that intentionally create these linkages with the Zuidas? How is the ‘iron triangle' that opens and combines the new specializations, the creative individuals and those that have project authority organized? Florence has taught us that in order to undergo a period of growth (a third golden age), it is essential that those who run the project (those that have authority) substantially know the potential and feasibility of a city. From this, they will be able to lead from content in order to achieve maximum creativity.
Creative chains
Let us examine where we can find the creative economy. Is this in the art factory incubators? Or elsewhere?
Does the Kunstberg in Brussels form the creative economy? 
After all, it is a collaborative bundling created around a museum-theme. The Museumkwartier (Museum Quarter) in Amsterdam can learn from this example. In Vienna, the city and state have consciously focused on attracting young designers to add to the formal culture in the Quartier21 at the Museumsquartier. As for the Museumkwartier in Amsterdam, it has been calculated that when all the institutions on the city square are grouped together, they form the most important tourist attraction in the whole of the Netherlands. For the city, this translates into €5 billion of direct expenditure annually and 12.500 jobs. Nevertheless, up until recently, the city's Department of Economic Affairs had never considered this as an economic sector.
Do festivals form the creative economy? The International Film Festival Rotterdam for instance? One of the reasons why the IFFR is so successful for film makers is because of the Cinemart- one of the largest conventions for the supply and demand of film. This is what really attracts well known directors and film makers to Rotterdam. But, talking about Smart Cities, how does Amsterdam do this?
Does the Philips Campus in Eindhoven form the creative economy? This techno-campus is organized purely around the theme of meeting and social gathering. None of the individual offices have an own cafeteria for instance: instead, there is one central facility. Does Amsterdam have similar examples?
Does a neighbourhood form part of creative economy? For example: WIMBY (Welcome Into My Back Yard), in Hoogvliet, Rotterdam, which acts as a laboratory for urban renewal. Does Amsterdam have something similar? And how does Amsterdam cater for the many freelancers in its neighbourhoods? After all: the amount of self-employed people in Amsterdam is increasing and often these professionals are active in the creative economy. One example of this is the Java-island in Amsterdam: a quiet neighbourhood, yet it contains the most registered professional freelancers per hectare according to the Chamber of Commerce. So how does the city respond to this? Or how does it use this to its advantage?
Is the Hub in Amsterdam (and other cities throughout the world) a form of creative economy? This is one of the many new (global) meeting points for professional freelancers worldwide: effectively the main site for the creative economy. Similar initiatives include Greendesk, Stadsridders (The Hague) and the ‘Open Coffee Club', which is open for professional freelances in the afternoon. Indeed, these are also active in Amsterdam, but what does the city actively do with this large creative sector?
Do Universities form the creative economy? If there is one place in the city where thoughts and knowledge are produced which eventually end up in the formal economy, then it is the knowledge institutes. But how are the Universities and Colleges in Amsterdam structurally linked to the urban strategies in the city?
Does ‘sport' form the creative economy? In Amsterdam's Olympic area, several organizations and institutions are clustered together that all share an interest in sport: the Johan Cruyff University, the Richard Krajicek Foundation...and the ‘clap skate' was invented at the VU (‘Free University')! On account of the Olympic Plan, Amsterdam has paid more attention to sports in the city; however it still isn't recognized as a component in the creative economy.
Does the Internet form the creative economy? Inspiring Cities, the International network for City and Culture, is an example of how the Internet can fit in the creative sphere. The site currently has half a million visitors annually, which is more visitors than an average museum. Where and when does Amsterdam use the Internet as a meeting point for the creative economy?
Does the city form the creative economy? Antwerp uses the city as a reflective screen, onto which it projects urban poetry about the soul of Antwerp. In this way, the creative economy is physically visible in the daily experience of the city. Of course Amsterdam also has art in its public spaces, however not in the same way.
These are but a few things to consider. They show that the creative economy is not only made of what we find in incubators. There are numerous more examples, especially when taking into account that we have only covered some of the production aspects of the creative economy: the consumption aspects raise at least just as many questions- but these all fit as linkages within the system.
Infrastructure alone is not enough
It is clear that Amsterdam invests a lot in its creative economy; however this is mainly in terms of investing in infrastructure. Although this is great and essential, the fact remains that this is merely a first step. Much more is needed to become a Florence, or to develop a third Golden Age.
These nine examples have highlighted Amsterdam's need to direct its attention on the content of its creative economy. Where does Amsterdam's authenticity lie? And how can you create logical links with that which is authentically ‘Amsterdam' to ensure that its uniqueness is encouraged through great leadership?
Remember to think of Florence once in a while. Who took leadership? It doesn't have to only be the city: it is those that have a powerful voice, nowadays not the Medici's, but for example the directors of Housing Associations, or businesses, or community organizations or educational institutes. Who really directs the linkages from NDSM to the Zuidas?
In short: Amsterdam! Get out of your comfort zone of investing purely in infrastructure and organize your leaders as they did in Florence so that we can truly enter the Third Golden Age!
More information
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