A topological approach to the creative city: artists’ perceptions of cultural places in Paris

Abstract The paper delivers a framework for the analysis of creative cities based on a topology of cultural places and artists’ perceptions of these places in the Paris Region. We apply this framework to a survey of 267 artists by using mental maps to capture their perceptions of the places they regard as having contributed the most to their creativity. A quantitative treatment of these representations was conducted to identify what places attracted what artists, analyzing the reputation of places among artists and the properties of the network of creative places in the Paris region. The study renews the approach of creates city by replacing the mainstream approach with a subjective but quantified vision that starts from the artists’ perceptions of the places that impact their creativity.