Cooltown Studios looks at what makes a shiny new corporate district different from an organically-grown one.
"On the one hand you have authentic cultural destinations grown naturally, referred to as natural cultural districts (NCD)..., which attract creatives. On the other hand, you have developments that attempt to become such cultural destinations in one fell swoop, referred to on this site as corporate cultural districts (CCD).... However, they tend to attract tourists and corporate employees with higher salaries than creatives. Here are the objective differences why, from a placemaking point of view:
Time: NCDs are built slowly over time, decades.CCDs are built completely within a couple of years.
Developers: NCDs involved multiple developers.CCDs involve just a few, and often only one.
Building age: NCDs have a mix of old and new buildings. CCDs are predominantly new buildings...."
FULL STORY: The difference between a natural cultural district and a corporate cultural district
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Municipality of Princeton (NJ)