Interview with Dominic Power on Creative Regions, Clusters, and Industries in Europe

Which region in Europe is most creative?

It is almost impossible to say which region in Europe is the most creative since creativity is everywhere and all European cultures have rich and varied creative traditions. However, it is perhaps possible to say which regions are home to the most creative and cultural businesses or industries. So it is less a question of who is more creative and more a question of understanding why some places seem better at making a living from their creative and cultural activities.

What is clear from the data is that Europe’s cultural and creative industries are highly attracted to some of the largest cities. So London, Paris, Milan and Amsterdam are the biggest centres for employment in these industries. Of course as a particularly bloody English saying suggests there is more than one way to skin a cat, and different measures show slightly different results. For instance if we look instead of sheer numbers of workers and concentrate instead on the proportion of the region’s labour force engaged in these industries we find that London is still the top centre but that Stockholm and Prague are close contenders. In all these cases it seems that density of producers and a high degree of specialization seem to be key factors.

How did you come up with these results?

I have been involved in research into these industries for over 10 years now so it is hard to say exactly where the line between current research and previous work can be drawn. But for the report on European Creative and Cultural Industries we have just released, myself and Tobias worked closely with the statistical experts at the European Cluster Observatory and with an international group of experts on these industries as well as with the European Commission DG Industry and Enterprise and agreed on a methodology to look at the industries. The guiding principle here was to get a methodology that could be applied to 30 European countries and a methodology that could be used with the Cluster Observatory’s uniquely detailed databases of industrial statistics and cluster measures.

Why is a cluster approach a good start for analyzing the cultural and creative industries?

I think that the cluster approach is an interesting and useful tool both for analysis and for policy action. It seems that the existence of dense concentrations of similar activities in one city or region is a feature of most cultural or creative industries. Clusters seem to help firms learn, innovate and most importantly commercialize their product. So clustering is basically a locational strategy by means of which firms transform latent benefits into concrete competitive advantages. In particular the cluster promises to produce innovation and competitiveness via a series of interactive processes within systems of actors assembled in a milieu defined through some form of spatial proximity: it is the interactive mix of suppliers, collaborators, and competitors as well as sophisticated clients that seem to make cluster environments such useful launching sites for creative firms. On top of all this the cluster idea is based on the observation that business done in one place is different to business done in another and thus recognizes that different places will have different sets of supporting conditions: that places are unique and have unique sets of resources for firms to draw on and policymakers to build upon.

How is it possible to stimulate creative businesses?

I think that human cultural curiosity and inventiveness ultimately are the drivers of creative business but beyond that it is hard to say for definite what exactly stimulates creative business: I don’t think there is any definite recipe for success. Indeed the message behind our book Creative Business is in order to stimulate and grow a creative business one needs to step beyond the easy axioms and lazy thinking. In the book we think through and reformulate ten of the most common business myths and present some interesting and useful case studies of firms that have managed to balance creativity with a sustainable business.