Glückler, J., Ries, M. and Schmid, H.: Kreative Ökonomie. Perspektiven schöpferischer Arbeit in der Stadt Heidelberg 307 L I T E R A T U R E Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 60 (3) (2011) pp. 307–309. Glückler, J., Ries, M. and Schmid, H.: Kreative Ökonomie. Perspektiven schöpferischer Arbeit in der Stadt Heidelberg (Creative economy. Prospects of creative work in the city of Heidelberg). Geographisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg, 2010. Heidelberg. 204 p. (Series: Heidelberger Geographische Arbeiten. Issue 131) Heidelberger Geographische Arbeiten (Heidelberg Geographical Studies) is a series of re- search papers published at the University of Heidelberg, an excellent university in Baden- Württ emberg, Germany. Since the 1956 fi rst volume, more than ten dozens of scientifi c studies have been released by the university’s Institute of Geography, an internationally renowned workshop of geography and earth sciences. In accord with the wide variety of research topics the local academic staff is involved in, the volumes give a picture of the whole cross-section of the discipline from geomorphology and biogeography to political, cultural and economic geography. Among the issues, multi-author textbooks as well as PhD dissertations and products of multi-party research projects are to be found. The latest, 131st issue is also belonging to the last category: it contains scientifi c results that precipitated during a 2009–2010 research project initiated and fi nanced by the city of Heidelberg. The book deals with the topic of creative work that has become a popular issue in social researches and is now regarded by decision-makers as a potential engine of economic growth. In particular, the volume focuses on the prospects of creative work in the city of Heidelberg that is living in a deep symbiosis with the oldest university of Germany. While doing so, the authors not only pay att ention to ‘creative economy’ in a narrow sense (including no more than cultural and creative industries), but consider all creative and innovative aspects of ‘economic events’. A necessary consequence of this broad fo- cus is a comparative evaluation of theoreti- cal concepts on related issues, which forms the fi rst thematic bloc of the volume. Aft er the three-sector model investigating cultural production along types of sponsorship, ap- proaches defi ning cultural and creative econ- omies as a sum of strictly-defi ned economic branches are presented. Concepts concen- trating on cultural value chains and Richard Florida’s concept on the Creative Class are also described and evaluated. Finally, a new theoretical framework is introduced: it ba- sically follows the three-sector model in logic, but takes into consideration all sorts of creative work in all economic branches, while excluding not-creative activities within branches conventionally regarded as cultural and creative economies. 308 The theoretical introduction is followed by a thorough empirical analysis of crea- tive economy in Heidelberg. First, the importance of public sector is presented. For German cities, a strong positive correlation between per capita economic production and per capita expenditures on culture is revealed. Heidelberg is also no exception, but has extremely high values in related investments. No wonder that high local demand for culture meets profound satisfaction with supply. More than half of all expenditures on culture, however, originate not from public sources. Therefore, the following chapter concentrates on the role of private sector in typical branches of cultural and creative economies. Results reveal a high proportion of those employed in these branches in Heidelberg compared to the national average. This is foremost due to a number of highly competitive companies in book and soft ware markets, intensively cooperating with each other, and forming the backbone of cultural economy in Heidelberg; advertisement and architecture are identifi ed as rapidly emerging branches. Although most enterprises are located in the historic old town of Heidelberg, they are strongly embedded in the regional market. Statistics are even more remarkable if all employees belonging to the Creative Class are considered. This category includes almost two-thirds of all employees in Heidelberg. The high ratio can be traced back foremost to science, research and development. Here, the leading role is that of the 625-year-old Ruprecht Karls University with its 18,200 employees and 28,000 students, and gross expenditures reaching about 1.2 billion euros annually. Academic sector in Heidelberg, however, also embraces several colleges and research in- stitutes. It means altogether 23,000 workplaces and 1.4 billion euros. With other words, the academic sphere is a decisive segment of local economy, and not only directly. The number of jobs only created by secondary eff ects of the university’s expenditure can be estimated at some further 6,700 within the region. The authors devote a whole chapter to the role of patronage. The issue is of especial interest since the old university town off ers relatively few opportunities for art education. Unlike the nearby Mannheim, Heidelberg has no art academies; it is diffi cult for young artists to emerge. Moreover, the town that is well-known for high real estate prices due to limited supply off ers few spaces for art activities. Thus, local creative production is reliant on patrons as well. In this sense, circumstances are optimal. Local households own a big and constantly increasing amount of assets; the relative number of foundations is similarly high. On the one hand, the latt er phenomenon is to be thanked to several extremely rich persons, who are from and emerged in the region, and regard patronage of local culture their moral duty. On the other hand, this sort of philanthropy can also be seen as prudent investment; investment in creative projects of creative artists and creative researchers. The latt er category is especially important in Heidelberg: almost half of all philan- thropic expenditures fl ow into science, which is an outstandingly high proportion in inter- regional and international comparisons. The authors reveal causes through network analysis. They show that the 68 local advisory boards in diff erent spheres and branches are character- ized by strong inner centre-periphery structures, where network centers are dominated by representatives of scientifi c life. In general, the volume can serve as useful and interesting reading for several reasons. The well-structured theoretical overview can be used well by those interested in conceptual issues of creativity and culture and their economic aspects. The detailed empirical analysis off ers information for everybody who wants to learn more about practical issues of creative economy, about methodological challenges of conducting such researches, or simply about the city of Heidelberg. Hopefully the volume will give inspira- tion to decision-makers and researchers in other countries to fi nance and conduct similarly well-founded and useful case studies on the local economic importance of creative work. Ferenc Gyuris