Tag Archives: Richard Florida

By Renard Teipelke

The expert seemed quite outraged hearing my question about Frankfurt am Main’s reputation as an economically strong capital of finance that lacks the alternative style and subcultural creativity of Berlin. I moved from Germany’s capital city to Frankfurt last year and have since then engaged various people in discussions about the cities’ different image and ‘urban atmosphere’. This time, we talked to an expert who works for the business incubator and creativity center of Frankfurt, MAINRAUM, and thus must have a biased take on the issue. Nevertheless, she brought up various aspects that I would like to share with you, because I think that her arguments (even though not totally new) are a fine example for understanding a city government’s perspective on the “creative city” debate. They might also convince some of the readers to readjust their picture of Frankfurt and Berlin (as well as similar cities). Continue reading →