Urban and regional studies in the experience economy: What kind of turn?

Abstract

The cultural and symbolic value of economic activities has increasingly been regarded as a decisive factor for regional competitiveness over the last few decades. Along with this issue, urban and regional studies have increasingly emphasized how culture may be turned into a competitive resource within specific innovative milieus, districts or clusters and how the public promotion of cultural activities can contribute to the regeneration and attractiveness of places. The notions of 'cultural' and 'creative' economy have thus become a focal point of conceptual models, research agendas and policy practices.Considering the concept of 'experience economy' as a specific focus to explore, discuss and understand urban and regional development, the present special issue builds on a cognate concern. It emphasizes the economic processes whereby goods and services are primarily valued not for their physical performance (Beckert, 2011) but for their symbolic and AbstractThe paper introduces a special issue on `the experience turn in development and planning'. It is argued that the notion of the experience economy is able to challenge established theories of the culture economy in three ways. First, by placing consumption and consumers as point of departure for innovation and valuation. Secondly, by approaching place as valuable for consumption, and finally by turning the lens of planning towards places as destinations, which entails complex quality of place concerns. The papers of the issue contribute from three different but related perspectives. One perspective is to deconstruct economic value and innovation in regional studies and elaborate on the role of consumers and stages of consumption. Another is the actor perspective and the question of how localized networks of innovative actors evolve and engage in experiential staging. Finally the experience economy is seen as an integrated approach in policy and strategic planning on as well as across different scales. Future research should not only trace the evolution of experience offerings, stages and destinations and its possible dependence on specific economic phases and contexts. It should also develop further the potentials of the experience economy approach as a new perspective on economic phenomena as well as on territorial development.

Experience the difference: the competitive strategies of food‐related entrepreneurs in rural denmark

“…Yet, in the more competitive community of Thisted some enterprises are forced to experiment with active experiences, to cater to sub-groups including families with children and to pursue partnerships. These findings support the view that spaces are not mere containers of economic activity, but crucial shapers of specific commercial strategies and valuable inputs to specific products in their own right (Lorentzen and Jeannerat 2013).…”

“…This article has implications for current research and contributes to several ongoing strands of research within geography. It extends existing studies on the experience economy (Lassen et al 2009;Freire-Gibb 2011;Bille 2012;Lorentzen and Jeannerat 2013) both conceptually and empirically by introducing the framework of passive, active and complementary experiences and providing evidence of how specific activities are developed, practiced and consumed on the ground. In so doing, it supports Florida's (2002) claim that members of the creative class prefer participatory to passive experiences and demonstrates how experiences allow contemporary consumers to create unique identities, display social status and pursue self-actualization through learning, doing, trying and making (Boggs 2009; Lorentzen and Hansen 2009; Hracs and Jakob forthcoming).…”

“…Building on the well-documented practice of commodifying myths associated with rural settings and identities (Hopkins 1998;Mitchell 1998;Ray 1998;Hracs 2005), these strategies add experiential elements to communicate and exploit rural myths in new ways. In recent years the experience economy has gained currency (Lassen et al 2009;Freire-Gibb 2011;Bille 2012;Lorentzen and Jeannerat 2013), yet little is known about how food-related entrepreneurs in rural contexts compete by developing and selling experience and culturally infused niche food products. This article contributes to existing studies in geography by focusing on the experience-based strategies that food-related entrepreneurs in rural Denmark are using to differentiate and add value to their products.…”

Conceptualizing curation in the age of abundance: The case of recorded music

“…While identifying 'where' curation occurs is valuable, this section aims to go further by providing a deeper analysis into the relationships between spatial dynamics and curatorial processes. While often neglected by existing literature, we assert that spaces should be viewed as vital elements of curation that do not merely contain or host specific activities but rather shape these activities and the exchanges between curators, producers and consumers as well as the dynamics and outcomes of such interactions (Hracs and Jacob, 2015;Lorentzen and Jeannerat, 2013;Pani, 2017). Table 4.…”

Beyond Production and Standards: Toward a Status Market Approach to Territorial Innovation and Knowledge Policy

“…they observe that the 'incorpor-ation of cultural and aesthetic aspects, within products' is becoming increasingly important across a wide range of sectors. These cultural and aesthetic aspects have also to be understood in the context of a development of an 'experience economy' (PINE and GILMORE, 1999;LORENTZEN and JEANNERAT, 2013) where end consumers are decisive in the economic valuation of goods and services through personal engagement in the consumption experience.…”