Geography of the Creative Industries
Introduction
Companies, organisations and practitioners in the creative industries tend to be physically near each other, often in localised clusters. But where do creative clusters tend to appear? What impact do they have on people, companies and places? And where can researchers – and crucially, policymakers – focus their efforts. The research in this theme looks at identifying where creative businesses are located, why they cluster together and the impact of these creative clusters on innovation.
Publications and Posts
Beyond growth: promoting inclusive development of creative clusters in the UK
The UK creative industries have been an economic powerhouse for over two decades, contributing £125 …
Improving economic statistics in the creative industries
Towards multi-regional creative industries satellite accounts In today’s ever-evolving economi…
Mapping and examining the determinants of England’s rural creative microclusters
More targeted support could unleash the potential of Rural Creative Enterprises It is well documente…
Supporting the Creative Industries: The impact of the ‘Preston Model’ in Lancashire
The economic geography of the UK is highly uneven, with many of the largest clusters concentrating i…
Createch activity in the UK
Createch is an emerging field that combines technology and creativity in novel ways. This report is …
Cultural brokerage and creative clusters
Future Screens NI and levelling-up in a pandemic environment Future Screens NI is one of nine creati…
Creative Radar 2021: The impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s creative industries
This is the second report from the Creative Radar series, by PEC researchers at the University of Su…
Creative radar: Mapping the UK’s creative industries
Major urban centres are the sorts of places we would expect to find creative businesses clustered to…
International Trade Challenges and the Effectiveness of Support Measures for the UK’s Creative Industries
The formidable challenges confronting the UK’s creative industries in the realm of exports, st…
Northern England’s Creative Industries
The Creative Industries are already a driver of growth across the UK economy. Export-intensive and m…
Creative Destruction? Creative firms, workers and residential gentrification
A new study by Tasos Kitsos, Max Nathan, and Diana Gutierrez-Posada finds only a minor influence of …
Speaking with One Voice
A fundamental remit of the BBC, and other public service broadcasters (PSBs) like ITV and Channel 4,…
Transitioning to Sustainable Production across the UK Theatre Sector
This discussion paper examines transitional pathways to sustainable theatre production in the UK. By…
Policy Brief: Insights from the Northern Creative Corridor Workshops Sprint
The Northern Creative Corridor is an initiative aimed at connecting creative clusters across Norther…
Policy briefing: Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns
This policy brief is based on a PEC Discussion Paper: Creative Industries Innovation in Seaside Reso…
Placemaking, Culture and Covid
In September 2021, we consulted a Panel of our Industry Champions on their experiences of …
Creative places: Growing the creative industries across the UK
This is in part because of the economic importance of the sector: one in eight UK businesses are par…
Mapping the R&D landscape for creative technologies
Creative technologies (“CreaTech”) will play an increasingly big role driving innovation and g…
The importance of a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries
New research shows that following the global financial crisis in 2008 we saw an accelerated tre…
How policymakers can support local growth in the creative industries
As part of our research agenda around local growth, we consulted our Industry Champions on…
Increasing inequality in arts and culture revealed by new research
Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 7 May 2025 A new report from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence C…
New Government-backed survey will provide unprecedent insight on what drives growth in the creative industries
In further indication of the increasing importance the Government is putting on the creative industr…
UK Government’s growth ambitions threatened by widening creative industries skills gap
Embargoed 00.01 GMT Wednesday 12 February 2025 The rapid growth of the UK’s creative industries has …
Invest at scale in place-based approaches to unleash potential of ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ in UK’s creative industries says new research
Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 20 November 2024 GMT With the UK Government’s forthcoming industrial strat…
With the right financial support creative industries could fuel the Government’s growth mission and help tackle persistent regional inequality
A new report published today by the AHRC-funded Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Crea…
Access to Finance: launch of new research project
New research is being undertaken by Creative UK in partnership with the Creative Industries Policy a…
New research points to a looming creative economy skills shortage across the UK
New report shows ‘severe’ decline in creative further education participation Embargoed 17 July 00.0…
Press Release: New research, including – once in a decade data – provides comprehensive overview of audiences and workforce across arts, culture and heritage.
Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 15 May 2024 (BST) For the first time, census data has been used to provide…
Press Release: UK’s creative industries are an export success story
New report shows creative strength despite Brexit and Covid Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 20 March 2024,…
Introducing the Creative PEC’s Research Fellows Network
By Professor Hasan Bakhshi, Director Creative PEC and Professor Giorgio Fazio, Director of Research …
‘One Creative North’ plans finalised at summit ahead of Convention of the North
30 organisations meet to set out a bold new vision for the north of England’s creative industries To…
Press Release: Investing in ‘creative clusters’ is key to economic growth– and helping to level up the UK economy
A new report published today, provides fresh insight on where policy intervention could be best targ…
Creative Corridors: Connecting Clusters to Unleash Potential
Introducing the Creative Corridors framework.
Too many demands are being placed on universities to support their regional economies, without sufficient support and partnership
The creative industries have long been heralded as a UK success story. The creative economy grew at …
How can policy makers help rural creative businesses contribute to Levelling Up?
The creative industries have the potential to play a major role in the development of rural communit…
PEC’s comment on the 2021 Spending Review and Autumn Budget
The UK’s creative industries – from film to fashion, and from video games to the performing ar…
The austerity decade: local government spending on culture
Local government has been hit hard by austerity. On average, grants from central to local government…
When policy meets place: ‘Levelling Up’ and the culture and creative industries
The UK Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda aims to address regional disparities in economic prosperit…
Small engines of growth: Understanding creative microclusters
Think about a creative cluster: What comes to mind? Creative clusters are the buzzing centres of the…
A first look at connections between the presence of creative industries and the wider urban economy
Creative industries have long been a focus of urban researchers and policymakers. There is a good re…
Looking at regional inequalities in the UK’s creative industries
The UK’s Creative Industries have been growing rapidly, both in terms of employment and economic out…
How location impacts the creative industries
Location matters, especially in the creative industries. The area of work I am leading will be looki…
