Download Creative futures?The Creative Industries and the New Economy

The Creative Economy, the Creative
Industries and the Ecology of Culture
Colin Mercer
The Creative Economy: market
size
The Creative Economy ΠMarket Size (1999 in $ billions)
SECTOR
Advertising
Architecture
Art
Crafts
Design
Fashion
Fil m
Music
Performing Arts
Publi shing
R&D
Soft ware
Toys and G ames
TV and Rad io
Video Games
Total
Total by 2020 1
GLOBAL
45
40
9
20
140
12
57
70
40
506
545
489
55
195
17
2,240
6.05
US
20
17
4
2
50
5
17
25
7
137
243
325
21
82
5
960
2.6
UK
8
2
3
1
27
1
3
6
2
16
21
56
2
8
1
157
424
Source: John Howk ins (2001) The Creative Economy: How People Make Money
from Ideas, London, P enguin.
The Creative Industries: definition
as Τactivities which have their origin in individu al creativity, skill and talent and which
have the potential for wealth and job creation through gen eration and exploitation of
intellectual property.Υ
Creative industries: UK sector composition and
employment 2001
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Software and computer services (555,000)
Publishing (141,000)
Music (122,000)
TV and radio (102,000)
Advertising (93,000)
Design (76,000)
Performing arts (74,000)
Film and video (45,000)
Arts and Antiques market (37,000)
Crafts (24,000)
Architecture (21,000)
Interactive Leisure Software (21,000)
Designer fashion (12,000)
= 1.3 million people in industry based on creativity and intellectual property
The New Economy: characteristics
• Intellectual property and knowledge-based
• Symbolic goods and cultural capital
• Symbolic and cultural entrepreneurs and intermediaries
• The ‘weightless economy’ of ‘bits’ rather than atoms
• From marketplace to market space
• Based on outputs and flows of cities/city-regions rather than
nations
Four themes:
• The significance of the creative industries at local and regional level
(clustering effects)
• The contribution of the creative industries to the national economy and
international trade
• The context of globalisation and convergence and the importance of
indigenous/endogenous creative industry growth
• Some conceptual issues and approaches enabling us to understand
these realities (the ‘cultural ecology’ and the ‘value chain’)
Local example: the Lace Market/Hockley
area in Nottingham

419 registered businesses in Lace Market/Hockley area

168 businesses (40%) in Creative Industries

67% of those surveyed rated as ‘important to crucial’ for their business their
location in the Lace Market area (LMA).

61% of those surveyed rated as ‘important to crucial ‘ for their business the
capacity for meeting and networking with suppliers, collaborators, competitors
in the LMA.

70% gave a ‘very good to excellent’ rating to the LMA as a location for
combined business and social interaction.
The creative content makers

74% rated as ‘important to crucial’ for their business the attractiveness of the
built environment.

60% rated as ‘important to crucial’ for their business the range and quality of
restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes.
•
57% rated as ‘important to crucial’ for their business the heritage quality of the
LMA

50% rated as ‘important to crucial’ for their business the proximity of arts and
cultural institutions.

58% had plans for business expansion
•
77% had experienced growth in demand for their product or service in the past
year
The creative content users
 91% of users agreed that the LMA ‘adds vitality to the city centre area’
 68% rated the LMA as a ‘safe environment’
 79% rated the LMA as ‘good for shopping’
 90% rated the LMA as ‘good for socialising’
 20% were there for work purposes
 30% were there for shopping
 49% were there for social reasons
In the Greater Nottingham Area….
• 15,000 employed in 1600 businesses
• 5% of the workforce (equivalent to national figures) and
– Strong growth in areas such as advertising, design,software, new media,
publishing
– Figures do not include self-employed, freelance, etc (‘the independents’)
• The cultural sector also comprises, as part of its 'ecology',
organisations, large and small, which are in receipt of subsidy from
local, regional and national government agencies amounting to £10.5
million in 1999-2000.
The subsidised sector ...
These subsidised cultural organisations directly contributed
some £34 million to the economy in direct operations spending
(on staff, goods, services) in 1999-2000.
Through the 'multiplier effect' this contributes, in real terms, up
to £85 million annually to the economy. The more that is
created and produced locally, the more this money stays in the
local and regional economies.
The subsidised organisations employ nearly 800 operational
staff on both continuing and contract basis and a further 800
artists, performers and educators.
What the people think
 68% of respondents in random street and telephone surveys,
across demographics and areas, placed a 'fairly high' to 'high'
value on culture with:
55% agreeing that it 'encourages a sense of community'
71% agreeing that it 'helps me to understand the world and
its people'
56% agreeing that it is 'important for my personal
development'
47% agreeing that it encourages ‘a sense of local identity'
From quantity to quality….
• The creative industries are a special sector because, while
economically increasingly important, they are also about:
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The resources of identity
The resources of affirmation
The resources of celebration
The resources of social inclusion and cohesion
The economy of symbols,values and meanings
The quality, vitality and conviviality of lived human environments
The resources of a sustainable and creative new economy
The development of distinctive local, regional and national identities
(and industries) in the context of globalisation and potential
homogenisation of cultures( ref. Uruguay Gatt Round/WTO the
principles of ‘cultural exception’ and ‘cultural diversity’
The Ecology of Culture
• Dynamic relationship between commercial, independent,
community and subsidised sectors
• Flows of people, talent, skills back and forth between these
sectors
• Importance of informal social networks and networking capacity
(social capital)
• Importance of understanding the processes of this ecology and
the ‘critical mass’ that sustains it.
The Value Production Chain
• Pre/creation (social conditions, training, funding)
• Production (infrastructure and capacity)
• Dissemination and circulation (distribution through people and
places)
• Positioning, promotion and marketing (dissemination of
knowledge)
• Consumption and usages (how, why, what people are doing and
to what ends - audience and market development, co-creation)
The Creative Class and the
‘Creativity Index’
• Creative class/bohemian/ share of the work
force (measured by SOCs)
• High Tech Industry presence
• Innovation index (patents per capita)
• Diversity index (overseas born, gays)
The Hong Kong Creativity Index
• Manifestations of creativity (patents, etc)
• Structural/Institutional Capital (legal system, IP,
treaties, etc)
• Human Capital (qualifications, mobility, R&D spend)
• Social Capital (charitable donations, volunteer levels,
civic engagement)
• Cultural Capital (cultural expenditure, participation
rates, values placed on cultural activity)
The UK Creative Economy Programme
• www.cep.culture.gov.uk
• “The Creative Economy Programme is the first step
in the DCMS goal to make the UK the world's
creative hub.”
• 7 working groups and reports:
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Infrastructure
Competition and Intellectual Property
Access to Finance and Business Support
Education and Skills
Diversity
Technology
and Analysis
Evidence