Creative class is a term coined by Richard Florida, a controversial American researcher, who claimed that development of a knowledge-based economy can be explained by three “Ts”: technology, talent and tolerance. Florida proposed methods for developing quantitative indexes for each of the “Ts”, using them to differentiate cities or regions, and evaluate their developmental potential. Researchers at TiMO used Florida’s model to analyzed Polish regions.

The study was the first Polish attempt to identify the size and structure of the creative class in Poland. Based on the level of voivodeships (regions), researchers demonstrated relations between the availability of creative professionals, development of technology and innovations, and levels of tolerance. The collected data helped compare regions and prepare the Polish maps of “3T”. They also helped verify the impact of projects, financed the European Union Structural Funds, on the regional development and changes of the three concerned dimensions. The project conclusions included the need to further stimulate the development of tolerance, as demonstrated that the open and inclusive regions tend to attract the best specialists from other parts of the country. The study turned out to be useful on the eve of the programming effort for the new financial perspective, 2014-2020.

Researchers involved: Krzysztof Klincewicz, Magdalena Miedzianowska, Martyna Czerniakowska, Lidia Lukowska, Marcin Kardas, Michał Mijal