Ludmila commenced her PhD studies in 2023 and during the 2024/2025 winter semester intends to advance her methodology at BCU, where she is a visiting PhD researcher working alongside Professor Dudrah. Her research focuses on Indian creative city policies from a spatial planning perspective. Across India, various settlements are implementing new urban development strategies, with eight cities already designated as UNESCO Creative Cities. These policies have a notable impact on the workforce, as handicrafts represent the second largest source of livelihood while emerging sectors like entertainment exhibit significant potential for future growth (Dasgupta and Clini, 2023). Nevertheless, significant knowledge gaps remain surrounding Indian creative city policies (Hitchen et al., 2023), their spatial impacts, and the identification of common patterns that could contribute to sustainable urban development. One of the challenges in conducting research in India is the large informal economy and the limitations in data collection (Shaban, Vermeylen and Handke, 2022; Dasgupta and Clini, 2023; Jordan, Dasgupta and Hitchen, 2023). This dissertation seeks to explore the creative cities of India, their associated policies, creative quarters, and urban morphologies, employing a mixed-method approach that integrates qualitative and quantitative methods (morphometrics, space syntax methods).
Hitchen, Graham, Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Diviani Chaudhuri, Rohit K. Dasgupta, Jennie Jordan, Deepa D., and Adrija Roychowdhury. 2023. “Creative Industries in India Mapping Study”. Loughborough University. https://hdl.handle.net/2134/21907980.v1.
Dasgupta, R.K. and Clini, C. (2023) ‘The cultural industries of India: an introduction’, Cultural Trends, 32(4), pp. 341–347. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2023.2247368.
Jordan, J., Dasgupta, R.K. and Hitchen, G. (2023) ‘Mapping innovation in India’s creative industries: an ecosystem framework’, Cultural Trends, 32(4), pp. 416–428. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2023.2217416.
Shaban, A., Vermeylen, F. and Handke, C. (2022) Creative Industries in India. 1st edn. London: Routledge India. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003129370.
