Geography of the Creative Industries
Introduction
Companies, organisations and practitioners in the creative industries tend to be physically near each other, often in localised clusters. But where do creative clusters tend to appear? What impact do they have on people, companies and places? And where can researchers – and crucially, policymakers – focus their efforts. The research in this theme looks at identifying where creative businesses are located, why they cluster together and the impact of these creative clusters on innovation.
Publications and Posts
The changing spatial distribution of employment in creative industry clusters in England 1991-2018
Dr Ben Gardiner and Professor Peter Sunley Total creative industry employment has grown substantiall…
Beyond growth: promoting inclusive development of creative clusters in the UK
The UK creative industries have been an economic powerhouse for over two decades, contributing £125 …
Improving economic statistics in the creative industries
Towards multi-regional creative industries satellite accounts In today’s ever-evolving economi…
Mapping and examining the determinants of England’s rural creative microclusters
More targeted support could unleash the potential of Rural Creative Enterprises It is well documente…
Supporting the Creative Industries: The impact of the ‘Preston Model’ in Lancashire
The economic geography of the UK is highly uneven, with many of the largest clusters concentrating i…
Createch activity in the UK
Createch is an emerging field that combines technology and creativity in novel ways. This report is …
Cultural brokerage and creative clusters
Future Screens NI and levelling-up in a pandemic environment Future Screens NI is one of nine creati…
Creative Radar 2021: The impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s creative industries
This is the second report from the Creative Radar series, by PEC researchers at the University of Su…
Creative radar: Mapping the UK’s creative industries
Major urban centres are the sorts of places we would expect to find creative businesses clustered to…
Regional Trade Agreements, Cultural Provisions and Trade in Cultural Goods
A Creative PEC Discussion Paper Muharrem Cevik, Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University and Giorgio Fazio an…
International Trade Challenges and the Effectiveness of Support Measures for the UK’s Creative Industries
The formidable challenges confronting the UK’s creative industries in the realm of exports, st…
Northern England’s Creative Industries
The Creative Industries are already a driver of growth across the UK economy. Export-intensive and m…
Creative Destruction? Creative firms, workers and residential gentrification
A new study by Tasos Kitsos, Max Nathan, and Diana Gutierrez-Posada finds only a minor influence of …
Speaking with One Voice
A fundamental remit of the BBC, and other public service broadcasters (PSBs) like ITV and Channel 4,…
Transitioning to Sustainable Production across the UK Theatre Sector
This discussion paper examines transitional pathways to sustainable theatre production in the UK. By…
Policy Brief: Insights from the Northern Creative Corridor Workshops Sprint
The Northern Creative Corridor is an initiative aimed at connecting creative clusters across Norther…
Policy briefing: Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns
This policy brief is based on a PEC Discussion Paper: Creative Industries Innovation in Seaside Reso…
Placemaking, Culture and Covid
In September 2021, we consulted a Panel of our Industry Champions on their experiences of …
Creative places: Growing the creative industries across the UK
This is in part because of the economic importance of the sector: one in eight UK businesses are par…
Mapping the R&D landscape for creative technologies
Creative technologies (“CreaTech”) will play an increasingly big role driving innovation and g…
The importance of a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries
New research shows that following the global financial crisis in 2008 we saw an accelerated trend to…
How policymakers can support local growth in the creative industries
As part of our research agenda around local growth, we consulted our Industry Champions on…
With the right financial support creative industries could fuel the Government’s growth mission and help tackle persistent regional inequality
A new report published today by the AHRC-funded Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Crea…
‘One Creative North’ plans finalised at summit ahead of Convention of the North
30 organisations meet to set out a bold new vision for the north of England’s creative industries To…
New research calls for change in film, TV and games sectors to improve access and progression for disadvantaged young people
While the film, TV and games industries are one of the UK’s greatest success stories, new research c…
Press release: With coordinated action North of England based creative industries could add £10bn to the UK economy
Today, the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the Creative Industries Polic…
Press Release: ‘Creative Corridors’ can be the key to the UK’s creative industries’ ambitions
Today (Saturday 16 September), three major institutions announce a joint agreement to work together …
Press release: Relationship between creative industries and gentrification overstated says new study
August 2023 – It’s a commonly held view that the arts drive gentrification. Many city leaders …
Press release: Landmark Creative Industries report says: prioritise creative education, end unequal access to the arts and focus on the regenerative power of the creative sector
27 April 2023 – Today, the Creative PEC launches a landmark report – The State…
Press release: Poorest areas excluded from Manchester’s creative industries success story
Research shows poorest parts of Manchester have few firms & little/no employment in creative sec…
Press release: What happens to coastal towns when the holiday-makers leave?
Could investment in the Creative Industries be key to year-round, economic development? Could invest…
How to use up the Levelling Up Resources
The welcome page for our Levelling Up resources for local authorities This collection of resources i…
Levelling Up and the Creative Industries: Resources for Local Authorities
Data and evidence to help local authorities understand levelling up and the creative industries Thes…
PEC announces the launch of six new commissioned research projects
The research will cover everything from fashion and music, to migration and seaside towns The PEC’s …
Taking stock of the Creative Industries Sector Plan
We summarise some of the key sector-wide announcements from the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
What does the 2025 Spending Review mean for the creative industries?
A read out from Creative PEC Bernard Hay and Emily Hopkins On Wednesday 11th June the UK Government …
All Together Now?
Co-location of the Creative Industries with Other Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors Dr Josh Siepe…
Creative self-employed workforce in England and Wales
Dr Ruoxi Wang, University of Sheffield and Bernard Hay, Head of Policy at Creative PEC Self-employed…
What just happened to funding for culture in Scotland?
First the facts: Creative Scotland announced the outcome of its new Multi-Year Funding Programme on …
Lifelong learning in the creative industries, part 2: the solutions
In part 2 of the blog, our Industry Champions discuss possible solutions to the challenges of lifelo…
Creative Corridors: Connecting Clusters to Unleash Potential
Introducing the Creative Corridors framework.
Too many demands are being placed on universities to support their regional economies, without sufficient support and partnership
The creative industries have long been heralded as a UK success story. The creative economy grew at …
How Research and Innovation can help level-up the Creative Industries
The Levelling-Up White Paper produced by the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and…
How can policy makers help rural creative businesses contribute to Levelling Up?
The creative industries have the potential to play a major role in the development of rural communit…
PEC’s comment on the 2021 Spending Review and Autumn Budget
The UK’s creative industries – from film to fashion, and from video games to the performing ar…
The austerity decade: local government spending on culture
Local government has been hit hard by austerity. On average, grants from central to local government…
