This is a process whereby creativity moves from the margins to the centre of basic conceptions of human action, bringing with it special attention to the specific mechanisms through which creative activity is more likely to occur in one place and moment rather than another. First, we offer a brief overview of the processes involved in what we call the institutionalization and internalization of creativity. We situate these propositions within a broader universe of ideas about the significance of creativity. We propose several hypotheses and analyses about scenes as one factor that contributes to ‘creative cities’. These variations have significant consequences for urban economies and populations. The availability of these experiences varies substantially across and even within cities and regions. Depending on its particular configuration of amenities, a vibrant scene can transform an urban area into a theatrical place to see and be seen (glamorously, transgressively or in other ways), an authentic place to explore and affirm local, ethnic or national identities (among others), an ethical place to share and debate common values and ideals (such as tradition or self expression). Scenes give a sense of drama, authenticity and ethical significance to a city’s streets and strips. These constellations of amenities define the scene by making available an array of meaningful experiences to residents and visitors. It treats the particular constellation of amenities in a place – cafes, galleries, pubs, music venues, fashion houses, dance clubs, antique shops, restaurants, fruit stands, convenience stores and the like – as constituting the local scene. This chapter investigates the consequences of local ‘scenes’ for urban development. We illustrate the framework by applying it to one distinct type of scene, bohemia, and analyze its position in the broader social system. We introduce a new amenities-focused database to measure and analyze scenes and their dimensions for each of 40,000 U.S. Like neighborhood and workplace, scenes reduce anomie, but because of their focus on consumption and the use of specific amenities, they are more consistent with today's ethos of contingency, moving beyond traditional ideas of the fundamental power of social, family and occupational background. This framework adds to concepts such as neighborhood and workplace by specifying 15 dimensions of the urban scenescape. Scenes contextualize the individual through amenities and consumption-based expressions of shared sensibilities as to what is right, beautiful and genuine. Scenes grow more important in less industrial, more expressively-oriented and contingent societies where traditional constraints fall and self-motivated action around consumption, leisure and amenities is a more important feature of social cohesiveness and interaction. This article builds on an important but underdeveloped social science concept-the "scene" as a cluster of urban amenities -to contribute to social science theory and subspecialties such as urban and rural, class, race and gender studies.
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