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University students and the ‘creative city’

In the last decade, city governments throughout the world have pursued various prescriptions for a ‘creative city’ with varying degrees of success. In Melbourne, strategies have included a revitalised arts policy, liberalisation of liquor laws, an increase in ‘al fresco’ dining and the encouragement of celebrity architects in the design and development of new buildings and precincts. Although Richard Florida’s notion of a ‘creative class’ actually originated with university students at Carnegie Mellon, and in some ways centres on students, the role and place of students in Melbourne has not been taken into account in any substantive local policy initiatives or place‐making strategies. Educated young people are major players in the ‘creative cities’ of urban geography and planning literatures, especially those of multi‐local orientation who might be expected to bring ‘cosmopolitan’ attitudes and treat social differences as a source of creative potential. Drawing on the situation in contemporary central Melbourne, in which a large population of international university students is indeed located in what the capital city council considers a ‘creative city’, this paper explores the extent to which the students themselves are engaged in the production of space. Through analysis of their uses and views of city spaces, the kind of city to whose formation they are contributing is revealed.