Creative Industries Drive City Regeneration

RENEW Intelligence Report
April 2006

Creative
cities
The role of creative
industries in regeneration

Dr Justin O’Connor
Manchester Institute for Popular Culture
Manchester Metropolitan University

Creative industries v9.indd 1 22/3/06 16:03:10


Introduction and key messages
RENEW Northwest is publishing a series of
Does anyone take creative industries seriously? This might
papers based on current good practice in
seem a strange question. Creative industries are widely
regeneration. They aim to provide leaders, hailed as a driving force for the transformation of run-
practitioners and professionals in Northwest down cities. But scratch the surface and it becomes clear
regeneration with accessible, evidence that very few policymakers are paying proper attention to
based summaries of ‘what works’ in order the health of the sector – an attitude that may have direct
to inform their own activities. Compiled economic consequences.
by a respected researcher in the field, their Ever since the 1970s, our declining, post-industrial
cities have been looking to culture for a new future.
intention is to draw on current research to
New Labour’s victory in 1997 was a turning point; one
challenge current practice and suggest new year later the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
ways to build sustainable communities in the launched its mapping document, pushing for creative
region. industries to be written into cultural and economic
strategy.
Now the creative industries are part of mainstream
British policy. There are UK consultants across the
globe. But none of this is evidence that we will continue
to succeed in this area. On the contrary, there is a real
danger of failure. Unless we can develop a clear strategy
for the sector, we are not going to survive the growing
competition from China and other developing countries.
We think of China as the place of cheap manufacture;
we should be looking at how it is developing its creative
and cultural industries. China’s approach does not include
all the rhetoric of the new economy into which we
have bought. Deregulation, self-employment, and the
predominance of service over manufacturing have been
given a bright sheen through the creative industries in
the UK, but may look very different in Asia. Our vague
promotion of ‘entrepreneurialism’ and ‘creative clusters’
might not be enough.

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Creative cities: the role of creative industries in regeneration

This paper attempts to make a clear case for the dimensions; past failures to do so have reduced the
role of creative industries in the future of our towns creative spatial potential of city centres
and cities, but also argues that some difficult choices ● Cities drive the creative industries, but there are real
have to be made. Many have argued that the creative opportunities to connect metropolitan creative input
industries bring together culture and economics, but with dispersed manufacturing and non-creative inputs
this is not the reduction of one to the other. Both are across the region
abstractions. The creative industries operate within a ● Creativity is a critical but neglected resource in other
complex ecosystem that involves not just artists and industry sectors
business people, but almost every area of urban life. ● Intermediary agencies which are close to the sector
‘It is almost In many ways the new city centres of the Northwest must be able to broker intelligent interventions at all
and beyond are operating dysfunctionally. It is almost levels involving partners with different priorities and
impossible to impossible to conceive of a regenerated city without new approaches
conceive of a or refurbished buildings and a more buoyant property ● Building successful clusters takes time and requires
market – benefits fuelled by the growth of creative subtle, informed and sustained interventions within a
regenerated city industries. But this very boom in real estate may kill the partnership structure
spaces and places of culture, just as it can exacerbate ● Cultural dimensions of the creative industries should
without new or social divisions in terms of employment and living space. not be underplayed – they create both tensions and
Both threaten the long-term viability of cities. opportunities for economic development and civic
refurbished buildings Before we deal with some of these difficult issues, wellbeing
and a more buoyant we need to trace the history of the terms cultural and ● Cultural industries can help kick-start property led
creative industries to understand what we mean by them, regeneration, but without effective planning are driven out
property market and how their usage has shifted. Once we have done by high land values and incompatible new uses
this, we will look at how they have been seen to link ● Creative industry strategies must prioritise investment,
– benefits fuelled to the local economy and what potential they seem to with large scale interventions including micro and small
by the growth of hold. Finally, we will look at some of the key issues facing businesses, requiring excellent research evidence and a
Northwest England in promoting creative industries. sophisticated approach
creative industries’ ● Agencies supporting creative industries must navigate
The key lessons for practitioners that emerge from this tensions between backing existing winners and those with
report include the following: unrealised potential and balance immediate economic
returns with wider enhancement of the cultural milieu.
● Creative industries create economic value in cities,
but require sustained and cumulative intelligence and
experience which balances economic and cultural

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What is ‘culture’? had been sacred, copied
by hand, objects of great
We cannot examine the creative industries without a clear value.The printing press
understanding of what we mean by culture. Raymond changed all this – but how
Williams, an early pioneer in the field of cultural studies, gave were their production and
us three possible definitions.1 First, he said, the word ‘culture’ distribution to be organised?
is used to mean a whole way of life, including customs Who paid whom, and for
and traditions. Second, it can also mean a certain level of what exactly? On what basis
understanding or knowledge, including scientific, artistic and was the writer to be paid? What was ‘intellectual property’ (a
spiritual traditions. Finally, culture also refers to particular hot topic then as it is now)?
products with symbolic or aesthetic value. These were difficult legal questions, at a time when
The ‘cultural industries’ refer to particular cultural ‘property’ itself was hardly well defined. But they reflected
products when they are turned into commodities that can a wider uncertainty. Does value reflect the paper and the
be bought and sold.Their market value derives ultimately ink and the time taken to make and set the presses, or the
from their cultural value: two different CDs or oil paintings creative work of the author? Where is the money made,
can involve the same physical material and the same labour who has the whip hand, which functions turn out to be
but command vastly different prices. How cultural value dispensable? These issues still vex cultural economists today.
becomes exchange value is the key question for the cultural Just as new business models affect the production of
industries. It is both an economic and a cultural question cultural commodities, so technological progress can bring
– neither can be reduced to the other. about dramatic changes in business.Think of the way LP
‘Just as new business The rise of cultural commodity production has been long records affected sheet music publishing. Nowadays, computing
and complex; here we can point to three key aspects. and communication technologies are having a profound effect,
models affect First, there is reproduction. Unique ‘artistic’ products shifting the pattern of money making and control.
could always be traded. But it was reproduction that allowed Business innovation can also have startling results.Think
the production of them to become commodities in the true sense. Metal of how the production of vinyl LPs also transformed the
cultural commodities, casting was an early example of this, but it was the invention music market.Today, despite our computer-dominated world,
of printing that really allowed the mass reproduction of book publishing is thriving as never before, as are many
so technological cultural commodities to take off.This was followed by performing arts with long historical roots. Grasping how
photography, film and, most amazing of all, the capture of these changes intertwine is the key to understanding the
progress can bring sound on wax discs. Now digital technology holds out nature of contemporary cultural industries.
about dramatic possibilities we are only just beginning to grasp. There is a third dimension, which is the sociocultural
The second crucial dimension is the emergence of new context of cultural commodity production.This is a vast
changes in business’ business models around these cultural commodities. Books area – culture as a ‘whole way of life’.To take an obvious

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between the wars was, for him, a sign that monopoly ‘Academics tried
capitalism had now invaded ‘culture’. Whereas before
culture was the realm of leisure and of freedom of the to investigate just
spirit, now it had become part of the system. According to
Adorno, culture had become a sausage factory.
how this “culture
This idea of mass culture and the destructive effects industry” worked
of ‘the culture industry’ gained a lot of ground in the
1960s. Academics tried to investigate just how this ‘culture and all agreed that
example, it is impossible to think about cultural commodity industry’ worked and all agreed that the term was far
production apart from the rise of capitalism, just as it is too blunt an instrument to describe what was going on, the term was far too
impossible to think about the rise of democracy without the and that a more diverse and complex notion of ‘cultural blunt an instrument
emergence of a public sphere sustained by the media. industries’ was called for.
In the same way, the relationship between the sphere Four aspects stood out. First, the different branches to describe what was
of art and culture and that of commerce and industry has of the cultural industries involved different conditions of
not been straightforward. In the past, the links were rarely production and consumption. For example, the book trade going on’
acknowledged and frequently denied. Often the rallying call involves buying and selling individual commodities, whereas
of art was precisely against the sordid world of commerce radio may be available completely free and make its money
and industry. through advertising. In both these areas, as well as in
This is not something we would uphold today. On the newspapers, concerts, films, exhibitions, and so on, value is
contrary, the links between the two are actively sought and created and distributed in quite diverse ways and with a
promoted by the highest levels of government. But we must complex mix of public and private finance.
be careful to avoid thinking that the two can simply click Second, it was clear by the late 1960s and 1970s that
together seamlessly. there was a constant need for innovation. This meant that
the techniques of mass production simply did not work in
From Kulturkritic to new economy the cultural industries.
This leads to the third aspect, which was that the
The term ‘culture industry’ was first used by the German ‘artists’ – the creators of new products – were still very
Marxist critic Theodore Adorno during the Second World much at a premium. More than that, only very rarely had
War, and further developed over the following 20 years. they become employees on a salary; most were freelance
It was a deliberately polemical term, linking the new wave or contracted for a specific amount of product over
of industrial mass production (often called ‘Fordism’, after a specified time. Though the picture was complex, the
Henry Ford) to a new kind of mass culture. origination function seemed to have remained at a pre-
The rapid growth of cultural commodity production Fordist, ‘artisanal’ level.

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Managing this creative function, and the pool of ‘The consumption At the same time, there was a general shift in the
‘creatives’ on which they relied, were a range of advanced economies from manufacturing to service
‘intermediaries’ – sometimes directly employed, sometimes of cultural goods industries, which emphasised close attention to customers’
themselves freelance – who helped link them to the larger needs. This ‘new economy’ was seen to be about
cultural industry concerns and often had to mediate became part of an innovation, creativity, flexibility, reflexivity, responsiveness
between different requirements within these firms, such as – precisely those qualities exemplified in the cultural
marketing and accounting.
increasingly industries. Cultural industries began to be seen not as
This function was made all the more vital because of self-conscious a quaint artisanal survival in a world of modern mass
the fourth aspect, which was the unpredictability of the production but as cutting edge examples of precisely what
cultural commodity market. Unlike sausage production, and individualised this new economy demanded.
each new product was made in anticipation of the cultural The other side to this is the proliferation of new
value it would demand in the future. But cultural value is construction of technologies and new business models in the creation,
extremely volatile, subject to changing accidents of fashion “lifestyle” and distribution and consumption of cultural goods: hi-fi, video,
and taste. Many products failed. digital, satellite, CDs, DVDs, pay-for-view, samplers, video
“identity”.’ and computer games, laptops, iPods, online shopping – the
Cultural industries as new economy list is endless and marks a transformation in the relative
importance of the cultural commodity economy.
The late 1980s witnessed a new wave of interest in
the cultural industries. The buzzword had now become Creative industries
‘post-Fordism’. There was a shift from mass production
to ‘flexible specialisation’ for niche markets. Advances in This transformation has given rise to the renaming of the
information and communication technologies, as well as a cultural industries as ‘creative industries’, a term used by
re-regulation of international markets and finance, meant the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in its 1998
that production and distribution were now operating at a Creative Industries Mapping Document. It intended to
more global level. Competition for access to more global highlight these changes in cultural commodity production
markets was increasing at local and regional level.
A new emphasis on market knowledge went hand
in hand with a new approach to the positioning of
products in this market. Increasingly it was the ‘image’ of
products that counted, not just their functional attributes.
The consumption of cultural goods became part of an
increasingly self-conscious and individualised construction
of ‘lifestyle’ and ‘identity’.

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and to link them to wider notions of the ‘information’ or some more spectacular visions emerged for the use of arts
‘new’ economy. and culture to revitalise run-down areas.
This emphasises the key role of information and In the United States, cities had begun to respond to the
knowledge services within the new global system, services demands of city-to-city competition for inward investment
drawing extensively on creativity and innovation. ‘Creativity’ and skilled labour by emphasising their cultural and leisure
migrated beyond classical cultural industries to a more attractions, usually anchored around a flagship development.
pervasive sense that innovation, intuition, ‘out of the box’ Pittsburgh got a new symphony hall and art gallery; Boston
thinking, rule breaking, even rebellion – all traditional and Baltimore new waterfronts. Not only did these new
attributes of ‘artistic’ production – were to be crucial cultural developments contribute to the city’s image and
components of the new economy as a whole. competitiveness, they could also redevelop degraded parts
This has led to some fairly big claims about the creative of the city; and they could do so by using public money to
industries representing a new economic model. Richard lever in private investment.
Florida, author of the best-seller The rise of the creative class, In the late 1980s, Barcelona gave this a European spin
argued that capitalism was moving from a system defined when it used its successful Olympics bid as a platform to
by large companies to a more people-driven one, where reposition itself as a vibrant, energetic, forward-looking
ideas and innovation were paramount.2 As a result, it is city. Glasgow built on much of this when it revolutionised
‘Gradually some argued, creative industries should come under economic the European City of Culture idea to present itself as a
more spectacular policy as much as, maybe more than, cultural policy. new vibrant city. Manchester and Liverpool have followed.
Economic impact studies also abounded, stressing
visions emerged for Creativity and the post-industrial city employment and other benefits, but in general these
were used to justify spending on arts projects and little
the use of arts and How then do the creative industries relate to the city and real thought was given to the promotion of cultural
culture to revitalise what possibilities do they hold out for urban regeneration? production itself.
Policy thinking was largely developed in the cities. More sustained strategies for the development of local
run-down areas’ The Greater London Council of 1980-86 was among the production did not begin to take off until the mid-90s.
first to acknowledge the contribution creative industries
could make to a vibrant local culture and a thriving local The creative city
economy. It aimed to give more support to creative
individuals and small businesses in order to develop local In the 1990s, cities moved from being ‘basket cases’
employment and wealth creation. to becoming the drivers of the new post-industrial
After 1986, these ideas were picked up by other cities economy. If the global economy was about networks
trying to cope with rapid industrial decline, but new and flows – of capital, information, goods and services,
initiatives were very diverse and fragmented. Gradually people, ideas, images – then it was cities which acted as

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key nodes and command centres. ‘More formal Creative industries are constituted through networks.
The new global cities tended to be the old global cities They can provide informal support, just as they can
reinvented – New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, networking is provide the context in which relations of trust and risk are
Hong Kong – while the older industrial cities were being managed. More formal networking is increasingly used to
outstripped by new cities and regions. The latter were
increasingly used articulate needs to the local policy context, and to develop
marked by networks of small firms thriving through shared to articulate needs sectoral initiatives and projects. Networks explain why
services, by a common pool of available labour and skills, the large majority of creative employment in the sector is
and by steadily accumulated ‘tacit’ knowledge, a certain to the local policy located in metropolitan areas (around 70 per cent across
‘know-how’ that was difficult to transfer to other areas. the UK).5
Michael Porter, a world authority on competitive context, and to Freelancers and micro businesses – ‘the independents’
strategy, drew on the work of the late 19th century develop sectoral – often began as part of a localised ‘scene’, and this gave
economist Alfred Marshall to explain why certain ‘industrial them an insider’s knowledge of the volatile and localised
districts’ managed to remain competitive despite the rapid initiatives and logic of cultural consumption. In creative milieus, these
changes in technologies and markets.3 Marshall used the active consumers became active producers of cultural
word ‘atmosphere’ to describe those special qualities projects’ products; there were spaces, people, networks, exemplars,
adhering to place which gave companies in the area a experiences, institutions on which to build – and these
competitive edge. Porter used the term ‘clusters’ to point formed part of the creative assets of a city or locale.
to similar contemporary effects – groups of companies in As a result, independent producers were able to
competition and collaboration, thriving in a particular place construct a new sense of identity and purpose, using the
and sharing its common attributes.4 mix of cultural and commercial knowledge which this
Work on the creative industries was pointing in similar new form of cultural production necessarily involved. The
directions. Research showed that the creative industry mix of emotional investment and calculation, of creativity
sector had a significant proportion of small companies and and routine, of making money and making meaning, of
freelancers, all highly networked with each other and with operating in a volatile, risky environment, using networks
the larger, often transnational companies. of trust and of information – all these have to be learned
by producers, though this is tacit
rather than formal learning. This
kind of embedded knowledge is
equally part of the creative assets of
a locality.
It is no surprise that creative
industries have held out hope
for the post-industrial city. In a

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sense, creative industries could not only be a source of Creative industry strategy in England's ‘It is no surprise that
employment in their own right; their success could be Northwest
emblematic of a wider creativity and forward looking creative industries
vision. Indeed, they are seen to act as catalysts for In the introduction I talked about how China is beginning
similar creative energy in other sectors, and have a to look at more ‘value-added’ activities, and that the
have held out hope
direct, tangible impact on the image value of towns or creative industries are becoming a key concern. However, for the post-
cities, increasing real estate values, tourism, and inward the Chinese government does not simply talk vaguely
migration. about ‘creativity’: its strategy is comprehensive, far-sighted, industrial city’
Employment in the creative industries in metropolitan ambitious, well resourced and intelligent.
areas is between 4 per cent and 7 per cent of total It builds partnerships with research centres in
employment. If we add tourism, hospitality and sport, all universities and the larger companies, and makes use of all
of which form part of the new leisure infrastructure of sorts of international expertise. It takes in the full range of
our towns and cities, this proportion rises to one in five leisure, tourist, sporting, entertainment, ‘high cultural’, and
and beyond. ‘creative’ industry sectors
But this has also made the process more difficult. The and is prepared to broker
idea of the ‘creative city’, which refers both to the creative large joint ventures and ● Creative Northwest:
industries and to the wider innovation and vision of the create media conglomerates Chinatown, Manchester
city, involves a mix of public and private investment, and of of a scale commensurate
economic and cultural policies. Indeed, it seems clear that with its huge ambitions
cultural commodity production – and indeed these wider and geographical size. For
abilities of cites to be innovative, competitive and creative example, the Chaoyang
– may depend on those other aspects of culture: culture District of Beijing is set to
as a ‘level of knowledge and understanding’, and culture ‘as host one of the world’s
a whole way of life’. largest media and creative
But how is something as amorphous as ‘local culture’ industry parks with
mobilised, how do we map, how do we intervene in local investment that dwarfs
‘knowledge and understanding’ especially when it includes anything in Europe. 6
tacit knowledge, atmosphere, and all the informal and I am not suggesting we
complex networks of urban life? look to copy a ‘Chinese
These are difficult questions and suggest a redrawing model’. But we are in no Manchester’s Chinatown was relaunched in October
of the understanding and policy processes of cities in the position to be complacent. 2005 as a centre for culture and tourism. The £120,000
new millennium. But at this point it might be more useful What makes us think that project, run by Manchester City Centre Management
to focus on the task in hand in the Northwest of England. our failure to deal with the Company, aimed to make the area safer and cleaner.

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‘Too much of the crisis in manufacturing stands us in good stead to develop careers rather than looking for steady jobs.
the creative industries strategically? ‘Creativity’, that word which bears so many of the
cultural and creative Too much of the cultural and creative industry agenda hopes for the post-industrial economy, becomes a central
is driven by an idea of windfall gain – ‘manufacturing strategic vision. But talk of ‘creativity’ frequently comes
industry agenda is has gone but aren’t we creative!’ We may be, but that without any analysis of the increasingly difficult national
isn’t enough. Others are mobilising their creativity with and international context in which creative industries now
driven by an idea of capacities of intervention we no longer possess. operate.
windfall gain’ Since the 1980s the UK has chosen to abandon most The creative industry sector is not a soft option,
of its tools of economic management other than those something to promote half-heartedly in the absence of
of macro-economic fiscal policy. Deregulated labour anything better. As a potentially crucial economic sector, it
markets and the removal of bureaucratic barriers to demands concerted action. If the Northwest is serious in
competitiveness were accompanied by a severe restriction its pursuit of a creative industries agenda, it needs to begin
of local economic to think clearly about its strategic objectives.
development powers. I want to outline some key areas where I think some
● Creative Northwest: The ‘creative hard thinking needs to be done.
economy’ has often been
Anfield, Liverpool seen as enshrining the National, regional, sub-regional, local?
The Harmony Suite, ideals of a free market First, there are the spatial questions. Creative industries
a production by of ideas, innovation, are relatively concentrated in the metropolitan cores of
playwright Nicholas entrepreneurship and Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
Kelly and arts global trade. And if Understanding the role of these two key drivers is,
agency Collective the fragmentation and in part, to understand how they relate to the rest of
Encounters, brought deregulation of the labour the region – their importance as centres of cultural
a derelict street in market had its downsides, consumption, of inspiration and energy; as places which
Anfield, Liverpool, the creative industries attract and sustain regional creative talent and enterprise;
to life. The play, were its upside; in this as providers of key creative business and ancillary services
based on themes of sector there were high (legal, financial, marketing etc.) in the region; and as part of
urban regeneration, levels of self-employment, a regional supply chain.
involved 12 months’ dense clusters of micro- This last seems to me a crucial aspect of intelligent
research with more businesses whose intervention at a regional level.The creative industries use a
than 500 local personnel seemed to lot of manufactured and non-cultural service inputs, such as
residents. move around freely, and packaging, printing, and distribution. Many of these, though
individuals built portfolio sourced locally, are manufactured elsewhere; but others

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are regionally produced. A regional strategy should not shy away from
What connections might ● Creative Northwest: Manchester prioritising investment in the two conurbations, or, indeed,
there be between the Manchester’s Piccadilly between them if necessary: Liverpool’s City of Culture bid
high-end ‘creative’ input Gardens, part of the deservedly got region-wide support. A regional strategy
(metropolitan) and those transformation of the city also has to recognise when region-wide interventions are
other more regionally centre, was shortlisted for the not useful. For example, region-wide marketing or image
scattered inputs? prime minister’s Better Public strategies may have little value for the creative industries,
This is not just about Building award in 2003 and whose identity is linked more to the local city or to the
how to encourage creative was featured last year in a UK as a whole. The ability to shift between appropriate
industries to use regional photographic exhibition, Public scales – regional, metropolitan, sub-regional ecologies – and
materials and services, and Prized, celebrating some to find the appropriate partnerships to do so will be the
but also about how to of the best public spaces mark of an intelligent regional strategy.
encourage manufacturing across the UK.
and other industries to Large or small interventions?
look to the services of the creative sector – especially This question of scale also applies to levels of intervention.
in design – and to their example in terms of innovation. As we have seen, the creative industry sector is a complex
The initiatives around regional fashion and textiles are the combination of a few large-scale producers, commissioners
beginnings of such a longer term vision. The interactive and distributors surrounded by clusters of small and micro
growth of metropolitan design and regional manufacturing businesses. It is complex because both the large and the
has been crucial to areas such as Milan/Lombardy, small operate at local and global levels.
Barcelona/Catalonia, Helsinki/Uusimaa; its absence can be The tendency in the UK has been to stress the small
seen in ceramics in Stoke and clothing and footwear in the companies, which are seen to be the innovative end of the
Northwest. This is now being recognised at national level sector, and leave the larger companies to their own – and
since the publication of the review of design in business by the market’s – devices. But in fact interventions on the larger
Sir George Cox. 7 scale should not be ignored, though they are more risky.
And what about the ever-growing competition from ‘Interventions on the This is not to imply support for a few showcase
London? Whether we allow London to absorb the cultural projects, nor that we should ignore the small business
economy of the rest of England is a national question, and larger scale should sector in the search for big clients. Large-scale intervention
responses have to come from that level also – hence the has to include the small and micro-business sector, but this
importance of the BBC’s decision to invest in Manchester, not be ignored, demands some more subtle means. It is no good trying to
or the tardiness of the West Coast main line, and so on. though they are ‘pick winners’ from a multitude of potentials – we have to
But in the meantime some decisions can be taken at the make sure that the ecosystem as a whole is healthy.
regional level. more risky’ Primary among these is the use of intermediary

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organisations. Gaining The answer demands clear research and reflection among
knowledge of how ● Creative Northwest: Runcorn academics, industry representatives and policymakers,
creative businesses with a view to developing a robust strategic direction
operate, and where specifically for the creative industries at regional level. Have
intervention might add we the potential, how can we build on this, what should
value, takes time. Effective we drop?
intervention demands
active collaboration with Economic or cultural priorities?
adequately resourced If a lot of what I say suggests that a regional strategy must
intermediary agencies. rely heavily on local urban interventions by intermediary
Intermediary agencies, agencies, then this is deliberate. It is not just that the
such as ACME in Liverpool creative sector is concentrated in urban areas, but much of
and CIDS in Manchester, Runcorn’s award-winning Brindley Arts Centre contains a its ‘support infrastructure’ is inseparable from that of the
are crucial in the delivery theatre, cinema, gallery space, digital imaging centre and urban milieu.
of regional strategies darkroom. It was opened in 2004, with funding from the The things that contribute to a vibrant, creative local
– they have the necessary Arts Council and Northwest Regional Development Agency. sector are part of the wider cultural assets of a city
knowledge, experience and – its sense of identity, its record shops, its libraries and
local contacts. They are under-resourced because their bookshops, museums and galleries, its open spaces and
budgets are often tied to ‘small business development’ with tolerance of diverse lifestyles, its schools and universities.
very narrowly defined outputs and forms of intervention. Creative industry strategies need to locate their activities
Intermediary organisations need to be seen as strategic within the wider cultural provision for cities – and the
agents for an effective regional strategy – with resources cultural provision for towns or rural districts too.
to reflect this. But we also need to identify where the specific value
of a creative industry intervention lies. Academic evidence
Being realistic about intervention
‘The things that and experience on the ground suggests there is no quick
An intelligent handling of scale should also come with an contribute to a way to develop a local cluster. The global metropolitan
understanding of the limits of intervention. A vision for centres remain leaders in the field; newcomers (such as
the creative industries must be realistic.You cannot make vibrant, creative local Manchester in music or Antwerp in fashion) have to work
another Hollywood. Are regional film strategies realistic hard to hang on to their gains. Intervention needs to be
in the face of increased global competition – not from sector are part of subtle, sustained and within a partnership structure, and
Hollywood but from all those other ‘locations’ and post- the wider cultural assessed within a context of informed knowledge focused
production paradises now touted on the world market? on outcomes rather than short term measures.
We could ask similar questions of TV, music and fashion. assets of a city’ The specific contribution of a creative industries

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‘Cultural businesses strategy is always to stress the economic dimension. But focus on immediate economic returns or do we also look
it is vital not to ignore the cultural dimension. Any cultural to enhance the wider cultural dimensions of the creative
themselves are often product will have an uncertain future: it is a gamble on its milieu? How do we account for high levels of business
cultural value for a consumer-led market which is volatile, failure or an unwillingness to pursue business growth at
torn between their fragmented, unpredictable and always demanding the ‘new’. all costs – characteristics of the most successful creative
The knowledge required to produce such goods is linked clusters – in the language of economic indicators used by
commitment to to a close understanding of these cultural dynamics; and development agencies?
cultural innovation it is a knowledge in which the rational and emotional are These sorts of questions dog creative industry agencies
difficult to separate. as they try to satisfy funding agencies or switch limited
and financial reality’ Cultural businesses themselves are often torn between resources between different priorities. It is often said that
their commitment to cultural innovation and financial the difference between creative businesses and the public
reality. The opposition is more than just ‘art’ versus sector agencies supporting them is that for the latter it
‘money’ – it is about the conditions under which you is just a job, and thus without risk. There is a truth in this
want to make money. Getting the right mix of culture which it would be unwise to ignore.
and business is often an ethical question which reflects But it is not the whole truth. Creative development
lifestyle, ambition, identity agencies have their own risks and ambitions, differently
and the surrounding ethos structured, differently rewarded, but which come with a
● Creative Northwest: Sefton of the creative milieu. These certain emotional investment in the sector they are trying
Another Place, Antony tensions are not just the to support. Evidence shows that being close to the sector,
Gormley’s installation of 100 mark of small businesses having personnel that understand both the economic and
statues on a Merseyside and freelancers; they also cultural dynamics of the sector, and having management
beach, has drawn thousands characterise some of the structures that are open to the input, scrutiny and
of visitors to a previously biggest creative industry criticism of the sector, go a long way to ensuring this
neglected part of Sefton and companies. commitment.
illustrated how cultural activity Creative industries
can transform the image and agencies must also navigate Property led regeneration and creative spaces
reputation of an area. South these tensions. Do we Urban regeneration is most often viewed in terms of
Sefton Development Trust concentrate on those physical regeneration, and often with good reason. But
worked with a wide range companies or sectors there are real problems if physical regeneration comes to
of local partners to bring that are making the most dominate the policy – and the urban – landscape. From
Another Place to Merseyside money or on those that the 1980s, big regeneration projects have relied heavily on
before the installation moves might make money in a flagship arts or heritage developments, such as the Lowry
to New York. few years’ time? Do we in Salford, or Tate Modern in Liverpool, which anchor

13



related leisure and shopping facilities as well as offices The Northern Quarter in Manchester and Duke Street/
and apartments. These generate business – rental value, Bold Street in Liverpool are classic examples of their sort
tax returns, employment – and have profound impacts on and crucial to the creative ecology of these cities. Both
property markets. areas were written off by developers and city councils, but
But there are some real problems. First, the brought back from the edge of dereliction by creative users
sustainability of some of these new institutions is who transformed these into key cultural assets.
questionable, and many are in financial trouble. Second, However, the benefits of such ‘bottom-up’
the local impact in terms of employment, wealth regeneration – as in SoHo in New York, or Hoxton
generation and appeal has been frequently questioned, in London – went not to the creatives but to the
as have the wider benefits to the city. Indeed, much of developers; the transformation of unwanted areas into
the content of these new developments aims for global cool and happening places presaged a rapid rise in
prestige and recognition, competing on an ever more property values. It is now widely accepted that such ‘cool
crowded stage. We could call this the ‘Guggenheim effect’ places’ are key drivers of the city centre property market.
after Bilbao’s meteoric rise to international profile based The pitching of city centre accommodation in terms
on its art gallery; but the impact of these diminishes as of the cultural vibrancy of urban living has led to an
each new one opens. explosion of city centre populations in UK cities, with
Local regeneration Manchester and Liverpool at the forefront.
● Creative Northwest: Liverpool is often represented Creative industries create economic value in cities,
by an ability to host an but real estate remains the prime measure of success.
artistic product which The centres of Manchester and Liverpool have been
was not made locally, has transformed at the expense of much of their creative
little local consumption spatial potential.
and will make little The inability of UK cities to address this problem is
impact on local cultural still all too evident. Claims for a creative, cultural city as
dynamics. Frequently the economically crucial are at odds with the reality of day
instrumental mentality with to day decision-making in favour of the city centre real
which this cultural content estate market and a lack of regeneration planning to
is handled diminishes even nurture the creative industries.
Children in Liverpool used willow trees to mark the end this – with local councils
of Sea Liverpool 2005, part of the city’s run-up to the undermining the autonomy Final thoughts
Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008. Models of a of curators or simply
lighthouse and a boat were installed in the playground not providing adequate Our reserves of ‘creativity’ should not be taken for granted;
of Lawrence Community Primary School. resources. they depend on a complex ecosystem that has grown

14



organism. A creative industries strategy requires an
● Creative Northwest: Salford understanding of both economic and cultural dimensions.
The Lowry has been a Its function is not to stress the former and leave the
major catalyst in the latter to the arts boards, it is to stress how the economic
economic regeneration dimension actually works in conjunction with wider
of Salford Quays. The culture: not just the ‘arts’ but the whole social and spatial
arts and leisure complex milieu in which it operates.
has attracted extensive This makes it the opposite of a soft option. It’s
commercial, shopping, extremely difficult because it crosses boundaries
leisure and residential and messes up neat administrative piles. It demands
‘Our reserves of
development to the sustained and cumulative intelligence and experience “creativity” should
adjacent site, as well dispersed across a number of different organisations; and
as the Imperial War it demands partnerships with organisations that have not be taken for
Museum across the different operational logics and priorities. It all makes for
River Irwell. complexity, fine judgment and risky decisions, but this is granted; they depend
the only way to operate in such a field as this. And lacking on a complex
a one party state or indeed those other more directive
up organically. The nature of culture is that it will go on tools of regional economic development which other ecosystem that has
evolving in such a way, but this does not mean that there countries have retained, we have to make these complex
can be no intervention. partnerships work, because they are all we’ve got. ● grown up organically’
China believes that with the right levels of economic
and managerial intervention it can capitalise on its huge
potential internal market for cultural products and use References 5 Pratt A. The cultural industries production
‘creativity’ to drive industrial transformation. There are system: a case study of employment change in
still many questions as to how this will work, but the 1 Williams R. Keywords: A vocabulary of culture Britain, 1984-91, Environment and Planning A, 20:
example demands that we understand this creativity and society. London: Fontana, 1975. 1953-74, 1997
of ours a little better, and that using it as an economic 2 Florida R. The rise of the creative class. New 6 Hui D. From cultural to creative industries,
strategy demands more than lip service and glitzy York: Basic Books, 2002. Strategies for Chaoyang District, Beijing.
promotions. 3 Marshall A. Principles of economics, 1890. International Journal of Cultural Studies,
Because something is organic does not mean we 4 Porter ME. Clusters and the new economics of forthcoming.
cannot intervene – if that were the case, western competitiveness. 7 The Cox review is at: http://www.hm-treasury.
medicine would not exist. Intervention requires a close In: Harvard business review, December 1998: gov.uk/independent_reviews
knowledge of the complexities and dynamics of that 78-90. /cox_review/coxreview_index.cfm

15


RENEW Rooms
The Tea Factory
82 Wood Street, Dr Justin O’Connor has been director of the development professionals. He was a member of
Liverpool L1 4DQ Manchester Institute for Popular Culture (www. the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s
Tel: +44 (0)151 703 0135 mipc.mmu.ac.uk) at Manchester Metropolitan ‘think tank’ on creative industries, and lead academic
Fax: +44 (0)151 703 0136
University since 1995. His main areas of interest advisor to Manchester’s Urbis museum on the
email: info@RENEW.co.uk
are contemporary urban cultures, with a special contemporary city (www.urbis.org.uk).
www.RENEW.co.uk
emphasis on cultural and creative industries and
culture-led urban regeneration. He has published Dr O’Connor also led a partnership project
extensively and organises many conferences on between Manchester, Helsinki and St Petersburg
these subjects. to develop a creative industries strategy for the
To register with RENEW
Russian city. He has spoken in Beijing, South Korea
Northwest please visit
Dr O’Connor led the research which led to the and Taiwan and is currently preparing an academic
www.RENEW.co.uk
establishment of Manchester Creative Industries conference with Singapore National University
and complete an online
registration form. You will
Development Service (www.cids.co.uk), the UK’s and Shanghai Academy of Social Science. He is also
then be added to our first dedicated local economic development agency programme leader for the joint master’s degree
contacts database and receive for the creative industries. He also co-convenes on European Urban Cultures (www.polis-web.net)
regular updates regarding our the Forum on Creative Industries (www.foci.org. involving universities from Brussels, Tilburg and
future publications, events uk), the UK’s leading network of creative industry Helsinki.
and activities.

Edited, designed and produced on behalf of RENEW Northwest
by New Start Publishing Ltd, tel: 0114 281 6133, www.nsplus.co.uk GOVERNMENT OFFICE
Photography from Ablestock and New Start magazine.
FOR THE NORTH WEST
ISBN 0-9552772-2-1


Creative Industries Drive City Regeneration

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