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By any measure, the UK is a leading global player in the creative sector, home to a huge portfolio of world-class products, firms and brands:
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BBC
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Lara Croft
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Norman Foster
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EMI
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James Bond
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Christie's
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Pearsons
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Andrew Lloyd Webber
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Lucien Freud
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Spice Girls
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Tate Modern
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Saatchis
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Vivienne Westwood
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Harry Potter
...to name a few. Along with the USA, the UK is the world's only net exporter of cultural products, and at present London is arguably the world's creative capital.
But despite or because of - Londons global pre-eminence, in Britain it is the regional cities that have led the explicit regeneration of creative industries. Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield have each articulated a strategy encompassing economic regeneration, city identity and cultural diversity. But the approach, the experience and the successes have been very different in each place.
What can be learnt from the successful projects in each of these cities, and what can be replicated? Many smaller cities, towns and rural areas are now adopting similar strategies. What new challenges do they face? What can they learn from cities? Within London and other big cities, what is best addressed at borough level?
And what can the UK as a whole learn? Countries as diverse as New Zealand, Latvia, Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada and Greece are developing national policies in respect of Creative industry development. So is the UK really leading the field here, or its present position a lucky accident of history and language? In terms of new development is it, in key respects, lagging behind?
See also:
Creative Industries Old Economy or New?
What are creative clusters?
What is creative entrepreneurship?
Culture or industry?
Globalisation: opportunity or threat?
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