Lived experiences of the x-minute creative city: Front and back spaces of creative work

How do chronogeographies of creative work map onto, limit or exceed notions of the x-minute city? Prompted by this question, our paper draws on research examining lived experiences of creative work in Sydney, Australia. Through time-based spatial analysis of everyday spaces of diverse creative workers (musicians, theatre producers, actors, playwrights, visual artists, and studio managers), detailed geographies of work are revealed. Rather than rely upon single worksites, creative work involves multiple tasks undertaken across many worksites (av = 23 each). Attentive to the particulars of the creative labour process, we map sites of production, performance, networking, supplies, and inspiration. Qualitative GIS analysis confirms that centripetal effects associated with the creative sector cohere with x-minute city thinking. Yet, these centripetal effects were not universal, being most evident in the city's preeminent cluster, where “back spaces” of creativity—inconspicuous worksites of production, recording, and rehearsal—coalesced in mundane spaces. Concurrently, in a city beleaguered by merciless property markets, centrifugal effects associated with gentrification and loss of low-rent back spaces confront x-minute city potential. Aligning x-minute city concepts with the creative sectors requires more than precinct activation policies. It requires grounded qualitative-spatial research to reveal topologies of creative work, and the political-economic dynamics undermining them. • Workers in diverse creative sectors require multiple “front” and “back” spaces. • Clustering dynamics of creative work cohere partially with x-minute city visions. • Car dependency, housing crisis and loss of back spaces limit x-minute city potential. • Place activation policies need to incorporate low-rent back spaces for creative work. • Qualitative GIS methods provide insights to ground-truth x-minute city visions.