CREATIVE METROPOLES // Concepts and

methodological approach

1. Introduction
The INTERREG IVC funded project CREATIVE METROPOLES „aims to strengthen the
capacity and effectiveness of public sector to unlock and support the economic
potential of the creative economy‟. The project proposal used the term creative
industries (CI) and defined creative industries as “those industries which have their
origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth
and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”.

The partnership of the project is constituted by municipalities and development

agencies of 11 metropolitan cities in Europe, which play a central role in the
economies of their regions and countries. These cities are:
1. Amsterdam
2. Barcelona
3. Berlin
4. Birmingham
5. Helsinki
6. Oslo
7. Riga
8. Stockholm
9. Tallinn
10. Vilnius
11. Warsaw

These cities are rather different in their approach to the creative industries as to their
experiences in supporting these industries. Therefore understanding the context of
each city is considered highly relevant throughout the whole project.

It has been agreed that term „creative industries‟ is used as a neutral and general
term within the project without referring to any particular concept or approach.

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2. Theoretical grounds for situation analysis

As theoretical grounds for situation analysis we proceed from multiple concept

approach which includes five “classical” concepts present in the literature, which
discusses and (re)defines the relations between economy and culture. These
concepts are the following: creative economy, creative class, creative city, cultural
economy and experience economy.

In addition to basic concepts there are series of related terms that are used in
different countries and cities. Herewith we have highlighted those terms which (are
most common and) represent different approaches, such as: creative industries,
cultural industries, copyright industries, content industries and experience industries.

2.1 Classical concepts

Creative economy (John Howkins)

According to Howkins (2002, xiv) “creative economy” can be defined as „transactions
in creative products‟, where the value of creative products is multiplied by the
number of transactions. Howkins‟ definition enables to bring together different kinds
of creativity under the same rubric. In particular, the sciences are part of the creative
economy because their products receive the protection of patent law. According to
Hawkins (2001, xiii) the sum of total four sectors – the copyright, patent, trademark
and design industries – together constitute the creative industries and the creative
economy.

Core industries of the Creative Economy (Howkins, 2001, 116):

1) R&D, 2) Publishing, 3) Software, 4) TV and Radio, 5) Design, 6) Music, 7) Film, 8)
Toys and Games, 9) Advertising, 10) Architecture, 11) Performing Arts, 12) Crafts,
13) Video Games, 14) Fashion, 15) Art.

Creative class (Richard Florida)

Florida‟s creative class approach focuses on the occupation and characteristics of
people (workers). The creative class consists of people who add economic value
through their –creativity (Florida, 2002, 68). Florida (2002, 68) defines the Creative
Class as consisting of two components. Firstly, the super creative core which includes
scientists and engineers (incl. software programmers), university professors, poets
and novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, filmmakers, designers and architects as
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well as (the thought leadership of modern society): nonfiction writers, editors,

cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts and other opinion-makers. (Florida,
2002, 69) Secondly, creative professionals who work in a wide range of knowledge-
intensive industries such as high-tech sectors, financial services, the legal and health
care professions, and business management (people such as physicians, lawyers,
managers, also technicians and others who apply complex bodies of knowledge).
(Florida, 2002, 69)

Creative city (Charles Landry)

Creative city approach emphasises the place. Landry (2000) has turned attention to
creative milieu. Referring to Landry et al (2005, 14), the concept of “creative city” is
„all-embracing‟, emphasising the role of:
■ Innovative high-technology enterprises
■ The spheres producing cultural goods and services
■ Networks for exchanging information and knowledge (between individuals,
enterprises and public sector)
■ Activity-based clusters, including creative ones
■ The ties between business and institutions for producing and mediating
knowledge, e.g. universities and research establishments (close connections
between R&D and entrepreneurship)
■ Diversity of built environment, quality of public spaces
■ Diversity of opportunities for leisure, entertainment and self-development (that
condition individual creativity)
■ Effective transport infrastructure
■ General social cohesion (mechanisms for fostering participation and greater
involvement of user, citizen)

Landry (2000) approaches to the cities as ecosystems where cultural, symbolic

values act as catalysts in fostering general development.

Cultural economy (Allen J. Scott; A. C. Pratt)

According to Scott (2004, 3) the cultural economy can be broadly described as a
group of sectors (equivalently, cultural-products industries) that produce goods and
services whose subjective meaning, or, more narrowly, sign-value to the consumer,
is high in comparison with their utilitarian purpose. Scott stresses that there can be
no hard and fast line separating industries that specialize in purely cultural products
from those whose outputs are purely utilitarian. Cultural economy is represented by
an extremely wide variety of both manufacturing and service activities (Scott, 1997,
328). For Scott (2001: 12), they include those „goods and services that serve as
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instruments of entertainment, communication, self-cultivation, ornamentation, social

positionality, and so on, and they exist in both “pure” distillations, as exemplified by
film or music, or in combination with more utilitarian functions, as exemplified by
furniture or clothing‟.

Experience economy (Pine & Gilmore)

According to Pine II & Gilmore (1999) businesses must orchestrate memorable
events for their customers, and that memory itself becomes the product – the
"experience". More advanced experience businesses can begin charging for the value
of the "transformation" that an experience offers. Within the fields of tourism,
leisure, etc. the role of experiences in the economy were well established long time
ago. Although continuing to influence business thinking the concept has already been
superseded within much service marketing and management literature by the
argument that the value of all goods and services are co-created or co-produced
through the interaction of consumers and producers. Therefore, at one level of
abstraction all consumption can be understood in experiential terms.

2.2 Different terms in use

In this section the most common terms in use are described. At the same time it is
important to stress that there is no single definition available for these terms; in
different countries and cities the usage (meaning) and scope of the terms varies.

Creative industries
One of the most widespread definition in use is given by UK DCSM who defined CIs
as “those activities which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and
which have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and
exploitation of intellectual property” (Creative Industries Mapping ..., 1998).

Scope: Advertising, architecture, the arts and antique market, crafts, design,
designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, performing arts,
publishing, software and computer services, radio and television

Cultural industries
According to KEA Survey (2006)1 where cultural and creative sectors are
distinguished the “cultural sector” constitutes of traditional art fields and cultural
industries, whose outputs are exclusively “cultural”.

1
The Economy of Culture in Europe, KEA Euoropean Affairs 2006. 4
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Scope: visual arts (crafts, paintings, sculpture, photography), performing arts

(theatre, dance, circus, festivals), heritage (museums, libraries, archeological sites,
archives), film and video, television and radio, video games, music (recorded music
performances, revenues of collecting societies in the music sector), books and press
(book publishing, magazine and press publishing).

Copyright industries
According to WIPO‟s approach2: copyright industries are industries involved directly
or indirectly in the creation, manufacture, production, broadcast and distribution of
copyrighted works.

Scope: (core copyright industries): press and literature, music, theatrical productions,
operas, radio and television, photography, software and databases, visual and
graphic arts, advertising services, copyright and collective management societies.

Content industries
In KEA Survey (2006) content industries are referred to as distinct from, although
complementary to the ICT sector. The expression “content industries” is used to
describe the industries which produce “information content products”, whether or not
digital.

Scope: consists of 3 fields: information technology (goods and services including

manufacturing telecommunications (goods and services including manufacturing) and
information content activities (film production, information services, media).

Experience industries
According to Nordic approach3, experience industries imply a focus on the consumer
perspective and attempts to understand the sensations, emotions, motivations,
memories, and individual feelings that make us buy what we do.

Scope: Fashion, visual arts, music, toys and amusement, tourism, books, theatre,
radio and television, architecture, sports industries, design, printed media, film and
video, advertising, edutainment, content production, events, cultural institutions.

2
Guide on Surveying the Economic Contribution of the Copyright-Based Industries, World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), Publication, Geneva, 2003.
3
Power, D., Gustafsson, N. (2005) International Competitiveness and Experience Industries, ISA. NUTEK.
VINNOVA. 5
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3. Preliminary findings from partner cities

The understanding and developing (supporting) of CI in partner cities is rather
different. Some cities have done thorough analysis of sectors‟ behaviour, some have
worked out strategies and focused policies, and some haven‟t yet done any of the
aforementioned tasks (see table 1).

Table 1. The existence of mapping and strategic documents in partner

cities

CI mapping done
Yes No
Stockholm Barcelona
Special strategy
and/or policy for

Yes Amsterdam Oslo4

developing CI

Berlin
Birmingham Warsaw
No Helsinki5 Vilnius
Riga
Tallinn

The ones who have done mapping also have used somewhat different approaches
and definitions. As follows some examples are given to illustrate this diversity:

Berlin – Creative Industries – In the general use, the term cultural/creative

industries [...] covers all cultural/creative companies [...] which are mostly profit
oriented and which deal with the creation, production and (medial) distribution of
cultural/creative goods and services.
Scope: Advertising (incl. PR), Architecture, Art Market, Book and Press Market (incl.
Publishing), Design (incl. Fashion), Film- and Broadcasting (incl. Cinema), Music
Performing Arts (Theatre/Dancing), Software/ Games/ Telecommunication

Amsterdam – Creative Industries – The creative industries contain economic and

cultural sectors that deliver goods and services that are the results of individual or
collective creative work and entrepreneurship. Meaning and symbolism are the most
important elements of these goods and services. They are pursued by consumers
and businesses for the specific images and experiences they provide. The creative

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Oslo has mapped only four CI sectors.
5
Helsinki is currently preparing a strategy for developing CI 6
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industries play an important role in the development and maintenance of life styles
and cultural identities within society.
Scope: Arts: performing arts, (production and distribution), theatres & concert halls,
visual arts, art galleries & museums; Media & entertainment: publishers (books,
newspapers, magazines), photography, film and video industry, broadcasting (radio
& television), press agencies & journalists; Creative services: design (including
fashion), architecture, advertising and marketing.

Stockholm – Experience Industries – “Experience” as a term focuses attention on

the consumers‟ perspective and attempts to understand the sensations, emotions,
motivations, memories, and individual feelings that make us buy what we do. The
experience industry approach therefore implies a focus on the consumer perspective.
Scope: architecture, art, music, computer games, literature, meals, design,
advertising, theatre, films, media, tourism, photo, fashion

The preliminary results of the comparison of the partner cities enables to conclude
that the sectors present in the partner cities can be classified as follows (See Table
2).

Table 2. CI sectors in partner cities

Common sectors Differences Exceptions
Arts Antiques Meals
Performing arts Crafts Tourism
Publishing Musical instruments
Radio and TV Heritage
Film and video Software services
Entertainment IT/games
Architecture
Design
Advertising

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4. Methodology for situation analyses in partner cities

The diversity in theory and the diverse picture of partner cities approaches and
practices will lead to the development of quite open methodology in this project.

The project focuses on situation analysis in partner cities, collecting (mainly)

qualitative information about cities‟ practices in developing and supporting CIs. The
project will result in a strengthened knowledge base and capacity of 11 cities to
make informed decisions and focused policies as well as design support instruments
that would help boost economic activity of their creative sectors.

From a researchers point of view the CERATIVE METROPOLES project is a „multiple

case study‟, where the case (unit of analysis) is the urban policies to strengthen the
economic potential of the creative economy.

The study‟s question is: How can cities strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of
public support to unlock and support the economic potential of the creative
economy.

To answer that question we need to analyse the policies and practices in the cities,
theoretical grounds for the development of CI and in some cities also the potential of
the CI (sub)sectors (where it is not done yet).

In particular, 5 policy areas are addressed within the project:

1. structure of the public support for creative industries

2. business capacity and internationalisation of creative industries
3. space and creative city districts
4. funding for creative industries
5. demand for creative industries products and services

The model for situation analysis of CI in partner cities consists of 3 interrelated

topics:

 Description of general architecture of public support for creative industries

 Collecting best/good practices in urban policies for supporting creative industries
in selected areas
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 Criteria behind the strategic choices and/or priorities for developing the creative
industries‟

See also Figure 1, which summarises the general framework of the CREATIVE
METROPOLES project.

The topics are going to be described and reported by local researchers according to
the common template (the same logic and structure) in order to:
 make comparisons between partner cities;
 make synthesis analysis and
 reach broader theoretical conclusions based on the situation analysis.

The expected results are as follows:

 overview of CI measures present in partner cities;
 altogether 55 best/good practices from 11 cities (with similar structure) and
 an understanding the main principals and focuses in CI development and support
architecture in partner cities.

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Figure 1. 10
General framework for
BEST PRACTICIES in
CREATIVE METROPOLES
urban policies for supporting creative industries in selected areas
project

Public support for enhancing business capacity and

internationalisation of creative industries (Theme 2)

General
architecture of Public support for developing
public support urban space and creative city districts (Theme 3)
for creative
industries
(Theme 1)
Financial support models for creative industries
(Theme 4)

Social involvement and demand for creative industries’ products and

services (Theme 5)

Strategic
choices /
priorities in CIs
development

THEORETICAL GROUNDS FOR SITUATION ANALYSIS

creative cultural copyright content experience

industries industries industries industries industries

MULTIPLE TERMS AND APPROACHES FOR SELECTION OF SECTORS

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Creative Creative Creative Cultural Experience

economy class city economy economy

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