An on-going academic debate occupying Entrepreneurship researchers for the past several decades is concerned with defining what an entrepreneur is and what an entrepreneur does. The debate also extends to exploring the influence different types of entrepreneurs have on their environment. In the new creative economy, entrepreneurship has become a central issue for the regeneration of urban space. This essay first differentiates between economic and cultural entrepreneurs and second explores what influence cultural entrepreneurs, especially, have on urban developments. By using Damien Hirst as exemplar for the discussion of the entrepreneurial character and spheres of action, the analysis of his career demonstrates how difficult it is in practice to draw a line between artistic, cultural and commercial activities in the creative economy. Hirst's approach to contemporary conceptual art and his factory-like art production are both controversial and successful as defined by the author. Nevertheless, there seems to be agreement that his entrepreneurial artistic work has had a profound impact on the revitalization of East London and thus can be used as model for urban planners. The author posits that Hirst is a cultural entrepreneur based on this model for creating/regenerating viable economic urban spaces who embraces the blending of the artistic and market spheres. EnhuberHow is Damien Hirst a Cultural Entrepreneur? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Artivate 3(2) 4 cultural entrepreneurship is discerned by highlighting their different spheres of influence. Subsequently, the cultural entrepreneur's role in the creative economy is expanded, with specific focus on the impact on urban innovation. Based upon these theoretical frameworks, the second analytical section discusses the question of how Damien Hirst can be considered a cultural entrepreneur. What distinguishes Cultural and Economic Entrepreneurs?Entrepreneurship in an economic definition depicts "someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it" (Bygrave & Hofer, 1991). Deviating from this, cultural entrepreneurship can be understood to refer to "cultural change agents and resourceful visionaries who organize cultural, financial, social and human capital, to generate revenue from a cultural activity" (Tremblay, 2013). Still, one can benefit from a clearer definition of the terms. A juxtaposition of different theories of entrepreneurial traits exposes that both cultural as well as economic entrepreneurs are perceived as a specific type or character. So what is the difference? After elaborating on general entrepreneurial traits, this section introduces Klamer's model of cultural valorization, which proves a valuable tool for visualizing and clarifying the spheres of a cultural and economic entrepreneur's activities and influences. Theories on Entrepreneurial Traits or Who is an Entrepreneur?Based upon both "the creation and economic exploitation" (Moss, ...

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