Conceptualizing industrial culture

Abstract

So far, ‘Industrial Culture’ as a term has been widely used as a synonym for industrial heritage. Only recently, a re-interpretation of industrial culture has been discussed, which goes beyond heritage issues by including contemporary or upcoming cultural and creative resources, addressing directly the future development opportunities of regions. Whilst some aspects of this conceptual framework of industrial culture are already applied in some places, there is no comprehensive outline available yet. In the academic field so far no coherent concept can be found. The aim of this thematic issue is to foster a discussion on the state-of-the-art regarding the conceptualisation of industrial culture. This thematic issue has gathered contributions that respond to the following questions: the different understandings of the concept of industrial culture; the role of industrial culture in the context of a post-industrial society and a knowledge-based economy; the connection between industrial culture, regional development and regional identity, as well as the inter-linkages between traditional industrial sectors and creative industries. The contributions in this issue focus strongly on the connection between the industrial past, present and future, bringing together different academic view points on the topic. The issue maps out current research topics and poses new questions on dealing with the wide topic of industrial culture.

The The impact of territorial policies on the distribution of the creative economy: tracking spatial patterns of innovation in Slovenia

“…We could argue that although the transition to market economy transformed and deindustrialised those smaller centres, they retained the 'pioneering' spirit, defined as a range of certain assets like mind-sets, skills, traditions and tacit knowledge (Harfst, J. et al 2018), which is so important for the creative economy. This is also a demonstration of how territorial polices can influence the innovation systems through improving amenities in the public sector domain.…”

The variety of industrial towns in Slovenia: a typology of their economic performance

“…This sparks interesting research questions for the future: is peripherality a factor that made industrial towns more resilient, because they were forced to reinvent their economies in order to survive the restructuring after the 1990s? We can confirm that those towns have a strong "pioneering spirit" (Harfst et al, 2018), exhibited through high concentrations of patents on innovations (Kozina and Bole, 2018). The case of Jutland -an industrial, successful and peripheral region in Denmark -showcased how entrepreneurs were required to be more technologically advanced, innovative and internally organised to compete with the economies of metropolitan areas (Hansen, 1991).…”

Path Renewal or Path Dependence? The Role of Industrial Culture in Regional Restructuring

“…Recent research has introduced the term of Industrial Culture in the context of regional development of industrial regions [15] and additional publications have highlighted the development potentials of the term, especially in the context of smaller industrial towns [19]. Here, Industrial Culture is defined as a transdisciplinary, holistic societal concept, similar to the definition of culture forwarded by Clifton, Gärtner, and Rehfeld [16].…”

“…Recent research has discussed Industrial Culture as a valid endogenous potential and a resource (see also the concept of cultural resources of Kebir and Crevoisier 2008 [40]) to tackle at least some development challenges of (old) industrial towns in multiple fields of activity, depending on regional and local framework conditions and opportunities (see the 2018 Special Issue on Industrial Culture in Urban and Regional Development in GeoScape [15]).…”

“…Interests in developing place-sensitive development strategies and a more holistic understanding of the evolution of (old) industrial regions suggest that the notion of "Industrial Culture" demands further investigation, as it holds some keys to understanding development processes and unlocking the endogenous potential for the future development of (old) industrial regions. In such places, the long economic predominance of industrial production has brought about a particular cultural setting made up of certain intangible assets, such as skills, attitudes, traditions, tangible monuments, and artefacts [15]. Hence, the concept ties up to a holistic understanding of development, emphasizing in particular the role of a specific regional culture as an "anchor" in both social and economic terms [16].…”