Creativity and Space Labour and the Restructuring of the German Advertising Industry

Originally published in 2005. By examining the changing patterns of the German advertising industry from a spatial-economic perspective, focusing on the rise of Hamburg as the country's new creative capital, this book discusses the shifting relations between economic organization, social relations and spatial structures in the post-industrial economy. It argues that it is the professional labour market which drives the organization and the spatial structure of knowledge-intensive activities. It does not, however, only imply the increasing importance of labour as a factor of production, but also suggests an increasing uncertainty linked to the nature of knowledge - labour. Illustrated by in-depth empirical material, the book brings together debates on reflexive modernization and individualization with those on embeddedness and on the role of business services in regional development. It concludes that it is the labour market of professionals which provides a regional and social anchoring of economic activities, while at the same time pointing out the increasing importance of metropolitan regions.

Joachim Thiel