Unpacking the middleground of creative cities: spatiotemporal dynamics in the configuration of the Berlin design field

This paper sheds a light on the middleground of creative cities, highlighted as a crucial intermediary between creative scenes on the underground and formal institutions on the upperground. Tracing the spatiotemporal dynamics in the emergence of the Berlin-based design field over time, the study suggests that a productive middleground is itself historically and spatially conditioned. Elaborating extant knowledge on creative field emergence, we show that middleground structures can emerge bottom-up through space-specific rather than sector-specific creative practices, and require active organization and configuration. They can, increasingly, also be of a virtual nature.