Oli Mould is a lecturer in human geography with a passion for researching and writing about the creative practices of cities--both those that contribute to capitalist accumulation and those that seek to resist it. He blogs at http://taCity.co.uk .
While 'creative city' policies have become ubiquitous, temporary and 'pop-up' initiatives are spreading even more quickly. Oli Mould argues that it might be time to embrace these initiatives as an ongoing force for urban renewal.
Sharon Zukin's Naked City: the death and life of authentic urban places, reads like a character assassination of New York City, tearing through a few myths of Jane Jacobs' on the way.
Oli Mould reflects on the tendency for policies that seek to boost a city's ranking on 'creative city' league tables to paper over the people and processes responsible for creativity.