Intercultural creativity in urban environments. How socio-cultural drivers contribute to the emergence of creative cities: The case of Montreal

Abstract

Several scholars support the idea that the future viability and development of societies depend to a decisive degree on how creative and innovative their urban centers become. One way to understand creativity is through its embeddedness in societal contexts that have specific characteristics due to historical developments. Through the notion of intercultural creativity, which can be defined as the complimentary combination of various culturally based perspectives, knowledge, and skills of people, we provide further understanding of what can shape creative cities. This research focuses on the city of Montreal (Canada), a metropolis considered as one of the so-called innovative and creative cities of the 21st century, to investigate how socio-cultural drivers have contributed to the emergence of this creative city. Through this case study, a diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective is used to show how the political, societal, and cultural context of Montreal historically led to the emergence of creativity. We argue that this creativity is an intercultural one that emerges from complementary opposites. These opposites play a central role in making a creative city, as we elaborate on three socio-cultural and contextually anchored drivers of creativity: biculturalism, cosmopolitism and interculturalism.