January's guest editor Paul Tullis explores the interplay between cluster-businesses and social cohesion - and how these attract, retain and engage the creative class.

As economies worldwide become more interlinked and globalised, and countries such as Finland and Singapore challenge the traditional North American-European hegemony on quality education, cities are forced to compete for high-earning workers who can attract and drive investments that generate revenue.

Urbanists and sociologists call these workers the "creative class" - a term coined by urban studies theorist Richard Florida. Leading creative-class cities and regions include New York City and London (for arts and media), Paris and Milan (for fashion and design), and Tokyo and Seoul (for computer technology and precision engineering). While the word "creative" evokes ideas of art and design, the creative class is not pigeonholed to these industries. Professionals in the "STEM" - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - industries, as well as industrial designers, educators, financiers, and healthcare professionals are all considered to be members of the creative class. The creative class can exist in any developed economy. As the organic evolution of the creative class is quite rare, Florida argues that the competition between cities and countries to attract and develop a creative class may become a defining issue for economies in the 21st century. Thus, how and why urban centres attract and retain the creative class could be key factors that determine their political stability and financial sustainability.

Creative class professionals are supported by a "cluster-business effect" that is as old as urbanisation itself. This concentration of industry thinkers is key to stimulating innovation. In the Middle Ages, England's wool suppliers established geographic centres close to their required raw materials and ports for export. Supported by successive rulers, this confluence of industry-specific business people enabled an exchange of ideas on efficiency and machinery that had an impact on the Industrial Revolution.

Geographic proximity also drives the growth of new businesses. Staff and alumni of California's Stanford University have founded some of the world's top technology companies, including Google, Yahoo! and Cisco Systems. The university's dean, Frederick Terman, contributed significantly to the success of Silicon Valley - he actively promoted and personally invested in innovative companies, including another Stanford by-product: Hewlett Packard. Physically positioning oneself near one's industry peers is viewed as an essential business practice - and the creative class is no exception.

There are four ingredients to creating this cluster business effect: talent, market, policies, and leadership. To ensure optimal conditions, cities should build on their inherent advantages, while ensuring that they adopt a proactive approach to attract the creative class. Los Angeles has one of the world's biggest markets for clean vehicles, and California is the biggest auto market in the United States. Allied to this is the abundance of talent in the state: four of the nation's leading science-technology universities are located there. With talent and market secured, California showed considerable leadership by introducing policies such as tax credits for companies that produced clean vehicles and stringent standards on air pollution. The move has definitely paid off - Los Angeles now hosts the North American headquarters of Coda and BYD, which are major Chinese makers of hybrid/electric vehicles.

The creative class was identified in North America, but it is a socio-economic idea that has spread around the world including Asia, where Singapore is reported to be the city with the highest creative class share of any nation in the world: 47.3 percent. In Singapore and Hong Kong, another former British colony, the colonial policies that fostered finance in these cities led to an influx of bankers and businesspeople that in turn created a need for ancillary industries from tailoring to professional services. Future innovations in the development of cluster businesses are likely - perhaps a healthcare research facility could create its own market by attracting surgical candidates, or a new university could generate support industries to meet the needs of faculty and alumni.

In an environment of economic volatility, the Asian culture of collaboration and social cohesion has brought about success and sustainability. While some of the region's governments prefer to control and constrain all-out freedom of expression, cultural and political barriers may inhibit creativity and innovation. For the creative class to flourish, the aforementioned factors of talent, market, policies, and leadership need to be present.

Japan, despite a decline from its 50 percent share in 2002, still accounts for ten percent of the world's gaming market. The country is also a global leader in producing visionary talent such as Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo games designer who produced some of the most successful video games franchises of all time including Donkey Kong and Mario. The Japanese leadership backs this private innovation through government policies that advance the game software and animation industries.
In China, the 2008 Beijing Olympics saw a revitalisation of architecture, including stadia such as "The Bird's Nest" and "The Water Cube", which reflected newfound national confidence and the country's creative freedom. Meanwhile, in Singapore, the historic former Supreme Court building is being remodelled as the new National Art Gallery, which will be the largest visual arts venue in the city-state when it opens in a couple of years.

Other parts of Asia are also experiencing creative shifts in commerce and culture. Global exposure and acclaim has been given to groundbreaking contemporary artists such as Indonesia's Ay Tjoe Christine, who was awarded the Signature Art Prize, and Thailand's Navin Rawanchaikul, who participated in the Venice Biennale. India and China, both revered economic behemoths, are also riding the creative class wave - China has a large pool of scientists conducting research and development, and India has sharpened its competitive edges in engineering and technology through proactive and pro-business government policies.

In view of these emergences, I probably will not be betting against the rise of Asia's creative class!

Paul Tullis is a Los Angeles-based independent journalist who has written for more than 60 print, digital and broadcast media outlets including Wired, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Daily News.