The politics of the creative industries

The academic research on creativity and the creative economy has evolved considerably over the past twenty years. The critical role of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in urban socio-economic development has received increasing recognition. Local actors, cultural practitioners and policy makers are in need of statistical tools which help assess the level of creativity of their cities. The main purpose of this work is to confirm the hypothesis that it is possible to provide a numerical estimate of such a complex and multidimensional concept. Therefore, this study first draws attention to the characteristics of the creative city. Then, it points out the importance of promoting CCIs policies in cities as key drivers of socio-economic development and sustainable growth. Finally, after a review of existing creativity indices, the study attempts to integrate the research on measuring the creativity of cities by proposing a new composite index. The empirical testing of the proposed index is carried out in the European capital cities. In the last section, conclusions of the study are drawn, providing interesting insights for future research.

I Transformacje (Transformations) is an interdisciplinary refereed, reviewed journal, published since 1992. The journal is devoted to i.a.: civilizational and cultural transformations, information (knowledge) societies, global problematique, sustainable development, political philosophy and values, future studies.

[P]emerintah masih cenderung melihat angkatan kerja produktif ini (jika bukan seluruh rakyatnya) semata-mata sebagai tubuh-tubuh yang harus dioptimalkan energi vitalitasnya untuk meningkatkan performa ekonomi nasional. ... Dengan melihat dari perspektif kreativitas, sebenarnya ada dua bonus demografi lainnya yang berpotensi dipetik Indonesia. Sebut saja “bonus demografi kreatif.”