Hubs and Hotspots are big cities considered gravity centers worldwide in terms of trends in different creative fields such as fashion, architecture, art etc. In those urban environments we are not interested in great movements but in emerging details that are not visible to everyone and that would point out the beginning of changes.
Hubs are power centers, considered “world capital cities”. They are vibrant cities were very diverse communities coexist providing character. In them new movements generate, and these may be adopted by broader audiences afterwards. Creative professionals and culture play an important role in them and they have the capacity to extend their influence worldwide.
A Hub can lose its title as such but it will require time. The main four cities considered hubs currently are Paris, New York, London and Tokyo. Although they seem to be far away geographically, they have points in common. For example all of them have been modernity or postmodernity capitals. Furthermore they all have been able to reinvent themselves using architecture as a powerful element
On the other way around Hotspots are cities where tons of novelties occur, but they are not always applicable to the rest of the world. This is the main difference with a Hub city regarding trends. They may include two extremes: rich cities or highly sumptuous led by new high social classes, and unequal cities of emerging countries where creativity can raise whether from up or from down. Among the current Hotspots we have: Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Copenhague, Milán, Moscú, Río de Janeiro, São Paulo, Shanghai.
In these cities the analyst must distribute the space depending on clues such as: the creative community movements, news about gentrification and its consequences, new urban plans that may influence the city… Later on the analyst will visit those zones gathering data, analyze the concepts where these new movements are grouped in, identify new businesses, new social activities and will come to the “landing” stage. At this point the analyst must group the information in conceptual and behavioural segments.