Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

10Lessons learned and policy optionstute a subset of the creative industries, which are a broaderconcept centred in but not limited to arts. Creative industriesare defined as a set of knowledge-based products, withcreative content, cultural and economic value and marketobjectives. It comprises the cycle of creation, production anddistribution of goods and services that uses creativity andintellectual capital as primary inputs. This led to the definitionused by some countries of “cultural creative industries”.Different models of the creative economy have differentways of identifying and classifying the creative industries.What matters is not really the definition but the use of theconcept as a new approach for a development strategy. Thisreport is based on the UNCTAD definitions and classificationof creative industries as follows:■ cultural heritage, including traditional cultural expressions;■ visual and performing arts;■ audiovisual industries;■ publishing and printed media;■ new media;■ design; and■ creative services, including advertising and architecture.This report seeks to establish a realistic benchmark ofdefinitions of the “creative economy”. The concept continuesto evolve, broadening its understanding and field ofapplication. Now, however, there are clearer views and sharedperceptions. Hopefully, in the near future a more innovativeclassification system will emerge not dictated simply byconvenience or statistical data but rather based on a betterunderstanding of what evidence is really required to formulateeffective measures.10.2.2 Cross-cutting linkagesThe “creative economy” is a multidisciplinary conceptwith linkages to a number of different sectors in the overalleconomy. Different approaches to analysing the creativeeconomy reflect different emphases. For instance, a sociologicalapproach has examined the notion of a “creative class”in society, comprising professional, scientific and artisticworkers whose presence generates economic, social and culturaldynamism. Other approaches have stressed the role ofculture in terms of cultural diversity and identities. Evenbeyond urban planning circles, the concept of the “creativecity” has become established, while architects and geographersfocus on the locational aspects of creative activity inthe form of creative clusters, networks and districts. Themultifaceted nature of the creative economy means that itcuts across a wide range of areas of economic and social policy.Moreover, there is a similar multiplicity of involvementacross the public sector, the corporate sector, the non-profitsector and civil society. Thus policymaking for the creativeeconomy is not confined to a single ministry or governmentdepartment; rather, it is likely to implicate a number ofdifferent policy fields, including:■ economic development and regional growth;■ urban and national planning;■ trade and industry;■ labour and industrial relations;■ education;■ domestic and foreign investment;■ technology and communications;■ art and culture;■ tourism; and■ social welfare.10.2.3 The creative economyin the developed worldAlthough this report covers trade flows up to 2008, itcan be said that during this decade the creative industries grewfaster than more traditional services and manufacturing sectors.A major driver of this growth was the extraordinarilyrapid pace of technological change in multimedia andtelecommunications over the last decade. Digital technologies,in particular the mobile revolution, opened up a range ofnew media and mobile-based services through which creativecontent can be fast delivered to consumers around the world,and the creative industries responded by supplying an everwideningarray of creative products to the market. On thedemand side, rising real incomes among consumers in developedcountries, coupled with changing preferences for modesof cultural consumption, helped to sustain the growth of thecreative economy. By the middle of the first decade of thenew millennium, the creative industries had been inducingemployment, trade, innovation and economic development inmany advanced countries, with the proportion of GDP contributedby the creative industries in developed countries averaging3 to 6 per cent. A recent study estimates that in 2007256 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010