Suvilahti - from cultural quarter to the engine of economic growth? : Exploring understandings of creativity in Helsinki, Finland

Abstract: This study explores different understandings of culture and creativity in the Finnish urban policymaking. It focuses on the development project of Suvilahti, an old power plant that is transformed into work spaces of cultural producers. As a theoretical background it uses different approaches to culture-led urban development and asks whether a ‘creative policy gap’ exists in Helsinki’s cultural policymaking. By analysing the City of Helsinki’s strategies in the field of cultural policy and semi-structured interviews with a sample of cultural producers, the study finds that a ‘creativity gap’ exists between the understandings of different actors. While planners’ understanding is characterized by the neoliberal understanding of creativity, cultural producers mainly understand creativity through the value of cultural democratization. The study calls for a wider understanding of culture in urban policymaking that recognizes creative activities’ potential also in bringing well-being to the society and understands culture’s intrinsic value.