Brighton

Brighton was invented as a product. In the 1750s, Dr. Richard Russell published a treatise on the health benefits of sea bathing and drinking seawater, then settled in the fishing village to treat wealthy patients. Brighton was the cure. When the Prince of Wales—later George IV—arrived in 1783, he found the place fashionable thanks to his uncle's residence there. By 1786, he was renting a farmhouse on the Old Steine. By 1815, architect John Nash was transforming it into the Royal Pavilion, with its Mughal domes, minarets, and cusped arches—an oriental fantasy on the English coast.

Royal patronage created the town's built environment. The handsome seafront squares and Regency crescents date from George IV's reign. But the railways democratized access. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway arrived in 1841, and suddenly 'London-by-the-Sea' was within reach of everyone. A Penny Illustrated Paper columnist noted in 1889 that the railway 'has done a hundred times more to develop Brighton than Dr Russell and George IV.' Queen Victoria sold the Pavilion to Brighton in 1850 and retreated to Osborne House.

The resort identity proved malleable. What began as aristocratic health cure became working-class day trip, then bohemian refuge, then LGBTQ+ haven. Kemptown, once the artists' district, became a vibrant queer neighborhood. The progressive culture attracted creative industries: Brighton now hosts the UK's largest concentration of game developers outside London. Digital and 'Createch' activity grows faster than London's.

Today Brighton's creative sector is worth nearly £800 million. Digital employment has grown 40%; creative industries 38%. Two universities—Sussex and Brighton—anchor research and innovation. The GDP stands at approximately £7.5 billion.

By 2026, Brighton will test whether a city built on pleasure can become a serious creative economy hub. The Royal Pavilion remains—a reminder that spectacle has always been the point.