The 'creative cities' paradigm sets out a place that is imaginative comprehensively. It has a creative bureaucracy, creative individuals, organizations, schools, universities and much more. The key to restoring long-term growth is our ability to innovate. By investing smart, local governments can buffer the downturn, accelerate recovery and lay the foundations for strong and sustainable growth. Innovation has never been more important for local authorities. In this context, while councils are grappling to cope with recession and the impact of financial crisis worldwide, this book, on the one hand, presents some of the most internationally well known creative city strategies that have obviously improved citizen's quality of life at local level and have enhanced local economy and development. On the other hand, this work places particular emphasis on the Greek experience of creative initiatives and innovations at the local level. While the country as a whole is struggling to survive the financial crisis is currently immersed in, some local authorities have found out a way to this deadlock through innovative initiatives.