RELOCATION OF THE CREATIVE CLASS TO THE SMALL CITIES DUE TO COVID-19: DISCUSSION ON A NEW CITY MARKETING NICHE

Abstract

Relocation to small cities is becoming more and more widespread. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people are  trying to escape from perceived danger and as an  alternative, they are considering short-term or long-term  relocation to smaller cities or towns. Purpose: in this paper,  the author gathers the experiences of people constituting a creative class, who relocated from capitals and  metropolises to small cities during the Covid-19 pandemic and before, recording and defining certain motives for their  move. Methodology: both primary and secondary  sources were used for content analysis. As a primary  source, ten in-depth interviews were conducted, whereas  secondary sources include blogs and online published  interviews. This article investigates three questions about  relocation: 1. Why do people move from bigger cities to  small ones? 2. What does the creative class pay attention to  before choosing a settlement for permanent or temporary  relocation? 3. How can the administration of the small cities reinforce their attractiveness for potential residents and tourists from the creative class?