Creative Industries: The Regional Dimension is one of a series of reports published in recent years by the UK government which outlines the importance of creative industries to economic growth. It is in these terms that central government has promoted the creative industries as a newly recognised and fast-growing sector of the economy, thus seeking to quantify the Cool Britania branding so famously propagated by the then newly elected Labour government. The author unpacks the enthusiasm for the creative industries at the national level, and further investigates how the creative-industries developmental agenda has been unfolding within UK regions. The trajectory of the United Kingdom's creative-industries agenda is contrasted with policy and developmental strategies undertaken elsewhere in the world. It is argued that implementation of a creative-industries agenda at the regional level in the United Kingdom is at best patchy, and there is currently a lack of strategic planning, best-practice models, and empirical research to guide policymakers. The West Midlands is then addressed in more detail, and it is argued that at the regional administrative level, a creative industries development agenda per se is all but lost. The implications of this policy trajectory are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AWM, 2000The West Midlands Regional Economic Strategy and Action Plan Advantage West Midlands, 3 Priestley Wharf, Holt Street, Aston Science Park, Birmingham B7 4BN
2.
BaileyCMilesSStarkP, 2004, “Culture-led regeneration and the revitalization of rooted identities in Newcastle, Gateshead and the North East of England”International Journal of Cultural Policy1047–66
3.
BellDJayneM, 2003, “Assessing the role of design in local and regional economies”International Journal of Cultural Policy9285–304
4.
Birmingham City Council, 2002Birmingham – Creative CityBirmingham City Council, The Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BB
5.
CunninghamS, 2004, “The creative industries after cultural policy: a genealogy and some possible preferred futures”International Journal of Cultural Studies7105–115
6.
DCMS, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 2–4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH
7.
DCMS, Department of Culture1998Creative Industries Mapping Document
8.
DCMS, Department of Culture1999Draft Guidance for Local Cultural Strategies
9.
DCMS, Department of Culture2000aCreative Industries: The Regional Dimension report of the Regional Issues Working Group
10.
DCMS, Department of Culture2000bCreative Industries Exports: Our Hidden Potential
11.
DCMS, Department of Culture2001aCreative Industries Mapping Document
12.
DCMS, Department of Culture2001bCulture and Creativity: The Next Ten Years
13.
DCMS, Department of Culture2002aCreative Industries: Intellectual Property Group report from the Intellectual Property Group of the Government's Creative Industries Task Force
14.
DCMS, Department of Culture2002bRegional Cultural Data Framework: A Users Guide for Researchers and Policy Makers in partnership with English Regional Cultural Consortia
15.
DTI, 2001Business Clusters in the UK—A First Assessment, Volume 1Department of Trade and Industry, Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
16.
EEDA, 2001East of England 2010: Prosperity and Opportunity for AllEast of England Development Agency, The Business Centre, Station Road, Histon, Cambs CB4 9LQ
17.
EMDA, 2000Prosperity Through People: Economic Development Strategy for the East Midlands 2000–2010East Midlands Development Agency, Apex Court, City Link, Nottingham NG2 4LA
18.
EvansG, 2001Cultural Planning: An Urban Renaissance? (Routledge, London)
19.
FlemingT, 1999ICISS Report—Local Cultural Industries Support Services in the UK: Towards a Model of Best PracticeManchester Institute of Popular Culture, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
20.
FlemingT, 2004, “Supporting the cultural quarter? The role of the creative intermediary”, in City of Quarters: Urban Villages in the Contemporary City Eds BellDJayneM (Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants) pp 93–108
21.
FloridaR, 2002The Rise of the Creative Class (Basic Books, New York)
22.
GreenhalghPShawK, 2003, “Regional development agencies and physical regeneration in England: can RDAs deliver the urban renaissance”Local Economy18161–178
23.
GriffithsAWilliamsA, 1992, “Culture, regional image and economic development in the UK”World Futures3105–129
24.
HallP, 2000, “Creative cities and economic development”Urban Studies37639–649
25.
HartleyJ, 2004, “The ‘value chain of meaning’ and the new economy”International Journal of Cultural Studies7129–141
26.
HesmondhalghD, 2002The Cultural Industries (Sage, London)
27.
HesmondhalghDPrattA C, 2005, “Cultural industries and cultural policy”International Journal of Cultural Policy11(1) 1–13
28.
Invest Northern Ireland, 2002Corporate Plan 2002–2005Invest Northern Ireland, 44–58 May Street, Belfast BT1 4NN
29.
LandryC, 1995The Creative City (Demos, London)
30.
LDA, 2001Success Through Diversity, The Economic Development StrategyLondon Development Agency, Devon House, 58–60 St Katherine's Way, London E1W 1JX
31.
MacLeodGGoodwinM, 1999, “Space, scale and state strategy: rethinking urban and regional governance”Progress in Human Geography23503–527
32.
McRobbieA, 2002, “Clubs to companies: notes on the decline of political culture in speeded up creative worlds”Cultural Studies26516–531
33.
MossL, 2002, “Sheffield's cultural industries quarter 20 years on: what can be learnt from a pioneering example”The International Journal of Cultural Policy8211–219
34.
MulganGWorpoleK, 1986Saturday Night or Sunday Morning? From Arts to Industry—New Forms of Cultural Policy (Comedia, London)
35.
MyerscoughJ, 1988The Economic Importance of the Arts in Britain (Policy Studies Institute, London)
36.
NWDA, 2003Regional Economic StrategyNorth West Development Agency, Renaissance House, PO Box 37, Centre Park, Warrington, Cheshire WA1 1XB
37.
OakleyK, 2004, “Not so cool Britannia: the role of the creative industries in economic development”International Journal of Cultural Studies767–77
38.
O'ConnorJ, no date, “Public and private in the cultural industries”, unpublished article; copy available from author
39.
O'ConnorJWynneD (Eds), 1996From the Margins to the Centre: Cultural Production and Consumption in the Post-industrial City (Arena, Aldershot, Hants)
40.
One NorthEast, 2002Realising Our PotentialOne NorthEast, Stella House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 8NY
41.
ParkinsonMBianchiniF (Eds), 1996Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: The Western European Experience (University of Manchester Press, Manchester)
42.
PrattA, 2002, “Creative clusters: towards a critical appreciation of concepts and practice”, presented at the Creative Clusters conference, Sheffield, 20–23 November 2002; copy available from the author, Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, London
43.
PrattA, 2004, “The cultural economy: a call for spatialized ‘production of culture’ perspectives”International Journal of Cultural Studies7117–128
44.
RobertsP W, 2000, “Regional development agencies in England: new strategic regional planning”Regional Studies3475–80
45.
ScottA J, 2004, “Cultural-products industries and urban economic development, prospects for growth and market contestation in global context”Urban Affairs Review9461–490
46.
SEEDA, 2002Regional Economic Strategy for South East England 2002–2012South East Development Agency, Cress Lanes, Guildford GU1 1YA
47.
SWRDA, 2003Regional Economic Strategy 2003–2012South West of England Regional Development Agency, Sterling House, Dix's Field, Exeter, Devon EX1 1QA
48.
The Guardian2003, ACWM job advertisement, 5 April, page 30
49.
ThriftN, 2001, “Virtual capitalism: the globalisation of reflective business knowledge”, in Virtualism Eds CarrierDMillerD (Berg, Oxford) pp 36–48
50.
TomaneyJWardN, 2000, “England and the ‘new regionalism’”Regional Studies33471–478
51.
TulleyJBerkeleyN, 2004, “Visualising the operating behaviour of SMEs in sector and cluster: evidence from the West Midlands”Local Economy1938–54
52.
UricchioW, 2004, “Beyond the great divide: collaborative networks and the challenge to dominant conceptions of creative industries”International Journal of Cultural Studies779–90
53.
VolkeringM, 2001, “From cool Britannia to hot nation: ‘creative industries’ policies in Europe, Canada and New Zealand”International Journal of Cultural Policy3437–455
54.
Yorkshire Forward, 2003Regional Economic Strategy 2003–2012Yorkshire Forward, Victoria House, Victoria Place, Leeds LS11 5AE
