Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

CHAPTER1Conceptand context of thecreative economy1.1 Evolving concepts and definitionsFundamental to an understanding of the creativeeconomy — what it comprises and how it functions in theeconomies of both developed and developing countries —are the concepts of “cultural industries” and “creative industries”.Much debate surrounds these terms. This chapterprovides an overview of the development of the concepts of“creativity” throughout this decade leading to what becameknown as the “creative economy”. Our intention is not toreach a final consensus about concepts, but to understand itsevolution. It also considers the emergence of the associatedconcepts of “creative class”, “creative cities”, “creative clusters”,as well as the most recent innovative notions relating tothe “experience economy” “creative commons” and “creativeecology”. The major drivers of the growth of the creativeeconomy and its multiple dimensions are examined in thelight of recent developments including the world economiccrisis. This chapter also provides evidence on the economiccontribution of the creative industries to the economies ofvarious advanced countries.■■scientific creativity involves curiosity and a willingness toexperiment and make new connections in problemsolving;andeconomic creativity is a dynamic process leading towardsinnovation in technology, business practices, marketing,etc., and is closely linked to gaining competitive advantagesin the economy.All of the above involve technological creativity togreater or lesser extent and are interrelated, as shown infigure 1.1. Regardless of the way in which creativity is interpreted,there is no doubt that, by definition, it is a keyelement in defining the scope of the creative industries andthe creative economy.Another approach is to consider creativity as a measurablesocial process. From the economic point of view,however, a relationship between creativity and socioeconomicdevelopment is not apparent, particularly the1Concept and context of the creative economyFigure 1.1Creativity in today’s economy1.1.1 CreativityThere is no simple definition of “creativity”that encompasses all the various dimensions ofthis phenomenon. Indeed, in the field of psychology,where individual creativity has been mostwidely studied, there is no agreement as towhether creativity is an attribute of people or aprocess by which original ideas are generated.Nevertheless, the characteristics of creativity indifferent areas of human endeavour can at least bearticulated. For example, it can be suggested that:■artistic creativity involves imagination and acapacity to generate original ideas and novelways of interpreting the world, expressed intext, sound and image;EconomiccreativitySource: KEA European Affairs (2006:42).ScientificcreativityTechnologicalcreativityCulturalcreativityCREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 20103