Micro-geographies of clusters of creative industries in Europe

The working paper series Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) is an initiative of the Section of Economic Geography at Utrecht University. The goal of the series is to promote the use of evolutionary economics in the field of economic geography.[EN] What makes special the geography of the clusters of creative industries (CI)? This paper considers the symbolic knowledge-base and the preference for location in urban spaces observed in those clusters. The study avoids classic research designs based on synthetic knowledge bases and regional-based administrative-constrained design, using instead micro-data (550,000 firms in creative industries) and geo-statistical algorithms. Results contribute to the economic geography by: (i) providing a specific observation of the spatial dimension (where) in the cluster theory; (ii) identifying and mapping the clusters of CI in Europe; (iii) exploring particular forms of agglomeration and co-location (urban and non-urban) followed by clusters of CI. Results present implications for scholars and policy-makers suggesting to stress the articulation of within and between-cluster policy strategies for existing clusters rather than fostering the generation of new clusters.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and [ECO2010-17318 MICINN Project].Boix, R.; Hervás Oliver, JL.; Miguel Molina, MBD. (2012). Micro-geographies of clusters of creative industries in Europe. Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography. 12(9):1-49. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/6075414912