The Creative Economy and Social Sustainability: Planning for Opportunity and Growth

Planning and urban policy in the UK has been increasingly aimed at resolving competitiveness of core cities, and the delivery of knowledge and creative economy is central to this policy. This paper explores the role of planning in delivering a sustainable built environment while accommodating the aspirations of knowledge and creative workers. We examine the potential for forecasting economic change by occupational classification and modelling this to anticipate residential outcomes at the local level. The paper raises questions about the path dependency of neighbourhoods and the role of planners in shaping or enabling the market while balancing the needs of a future economy with policy goals of social cohesion and inclusion.