Inequality and Politics in the Creative City-Region: Questions of Livability and State Strategy

City-regionalism and livability are concepts that feature prominently in recent writings on urban politics and policy. Policy discussions have seen the two concepts fused together in such a way that regional competitiveness is generally understood to entail high levels of ‘livability’ while urban livability is increasingly discussed, measured and advocated at a city-regional scale. It is, then, important to understand how these concepts work in tandem and to delineate the often-elided politics of reproduction through which they operate. This paper begins by elaborating on the politically powerful fusion of city-regionalist and urban livability discourses, using the example of Richard Florida’s creative city argument. It then discusses the politics of city-regionalism and livability through the case of Austin, Texas, a city that has framed its policy in terms of regionalism and livability but which is also characterized by marked income inequality and a neighborhood-based political struggle over the city’s future. The paper concludes by drawing lessons from the discussion and suggesting that the city-regional livability agenda can best be understood as a geographically selective, strategic, and highly political project.