Creative Industries and Creative Communities: Policy Futures?

1. Creative Industries and Creative Communities:Policy Futures? Creative Industries and Creative Communities Institute for Environment, Sustainability and Regeneration Staffordshire University, 11th November 2009 Calvin Taylor Chair in Cultural Industries c.f.taylor@leeds.ac.uk

2. Calvin Taylor • Academic • Huddersfield Creative Town Initiative (1998-2000) • Creative Yorkshire (2000-2002) • 40+ strategic and practical projects in UK and abroad (RDAs, DCMS, British Council, UNESCO, WIPO) • Director, Creative Industries Development Agency (2000-present). • From Huddersfield to the world - Design and deliver programs of mentoring, network development, skills and leadership development to business, community, citizens and artists • New focus – creativity and innovation in service delivery CRECE, Manizales, Colombia 2005

3. The Creative Industries: Are we becoming sceptical? • Questions about the availability of robust and appropriate evidence • Questions about the instrumentalisation of culture • Questions about the social value of creative industries employment • Are we in danger of throwing out the baby with • the bath-water? • Do we need a new stand-point? • Where might one come from?

4. Four propositions: • 1. Whether we like it or not, mobilising culture and creativity for regeneration or development is an inherently political process – and the politics have gone awry • 2. There is a lot to be learned from the UK experience, despite valid critiques of some of the arguments • 3. The arguments about the value of culture and creativity are not dependent on data – reality moves faster than data • 4. The future of creative industries, creative communities depends on: knowledge, experience, some data but most important of all - getting the right mix of intervention at the right level

5. LessonsSo, where have we come from?

6. A growing global industry….late 1990s-early noughties

7. Until…….. ………..A reminder of where we came from?

8. Municipal socialism Greater London Council Greater London Enterprise Board Promotion of co-operative enterprise Application to arts and culture • Social democratic cultural policy • Connecting culture to enterprise • Community development objectives

9. Infra-structure strategies • Attention to working environments • Basic clustering model • Culture intrinsic to urban development Local cultural production strategies: Sheffield, Red Tape Studios and the Cultural Industries Quarter

10. “This cultural policy is also an economic policy. Culture creates wealth. Broadly defined, our cultural industries generate 13 billion dollars a year. Culture employs. Around 336,000 Australians are employed in culture-related industries. Culture adds value, it makes an essential contribution to innovation, marketing and design. It is a badge of our industry. The level of our creativity substantially determines our ability to adapt to new economic imperatives. It is a valuable export in itself and an essential accompaniment to the export of other commodities. It attracts tourists and students. It is essential to our economic success” Creative Nation: A Commonwealth Cultural Policy, Australia, 1994 Available at: http://www.nla.gov.au/creative.nation/contents.html • Don’t need to be shy about connecting culture to wealth creation

11. Creative entrepreneurship: Richard Caves: 7 economic properties The nobody knows anything principle The art for art sake principle (craft, skill, virtuosity) The motley crew principle (project orientated with flexible, inter-changeable staff (Film industry one of the earliest, advertising, but also now more traditional art-forms) Product infinite variety – the ‘batch’ principle, short production runs, customisation, personalisation – ‘flexible-specialisation’ (Piore and Sabel) A List/B List principle – personalised branding, small differences in skill mean big differences in economic return The time flies principle – time does literally mean money The ars longa principle – some works achieve/maintain value long after their production – allowing economic rents to be derived from them. See Richard Caves (2000) Contracts between art and commerce. Also see Henry, C (2007) Entrepreneurship in the creative industries: international perspectives (especially Chapters 4 and 7) 1. Encouraged focused attention on need for intelligence and knowledge

12. 1. Importance of definitions and data The creative industries… ……..er, or is it creative economy…..?

13. 1. Understand the value of a localities cultural and creative attributes Models I Cycle of Creativity: Wood, P & Taylor, C ‘Big ideas for a small town: the Huddersfield creative town initiative’, Local economy, Vol. 19 (4)

14. WEAKNESSES STRENGTHS • Factor Conditions • Location & transport connections • Huddersfield’s built environment (heritage & conversion uses) • Competitive property prices • Business Support Environment • Well established sector-specific agencies • Demand Conditions • Weak overall local demand • Particularly in higher value / more challenging segments • Knowledge Infrastructure • Questions over political will to engage in strategic projects • Business Support Environment • Weaknesses of mainstream business support compared with other sub-regions • Factor Conditions • Industrial base relatively narrow (in activity, source of demand, business model) • Makes cluster vulnerable to volatility of business cycle • Regional Sectoral Strengths • Critical mass of businesses • Physical & virtual hubs to anchor and animate SME base • Raised profile of Kirklees in region & nationally • Knowledge Infrastructure • Strengths in key disciplines at HE & FE • Supply of well skilled labour • Formal & non-formal routes to employment established • Individual sector champions • Leadership & Partnership • Low level of joint working across the sector • Lack of focal point for promoting the sector • Perceived loss of momentum • Image • Negative image abides in some quarters of the region (corporate market and the media) THREATS OPPORTUNITIES • Competitive Dynamics of UK Print & Publishing Industries • Sector heavily dependent on P&P for jobs & wealth creation • Local future in part contingent on spatial restructuring • Diversifying Business Base • Grow micros into small firms • Develop non-Books & Press segments • Encourage IP-based businesses • Improve robustness & sustainability • Factor Conditions • Rising property costs • Pressure on availability of suitable property • Potential business climate/image as a centre for ‘lifestyle’ businesses • Building on Success • Sector upbeat about future prospects • Further potential to be unlocked • Kirklees can build on regional comparative advantage of Huddersfield cluster • Competition from the Rest of the Region • Challenge from businesses in York • Potential change of attitude in Leeds towards early stage companies • End of ESF & ERDF Funding • Significant beneficiary of European funding • End of current funding round • Partnership & Leadership • Improve joint working • Provide more unified front to potential investors & partners Huddersfield’s creative industries: a swot analysis (2002)

15. Inter-linkages • Embeddedness • Policy levers Models II: The Creative Industries Cluster

16. Levels of policy leverage Source: Anamaria Wills, Creative Industries Development Agency

17. Simple and transformational Shanghai (2006) • Workspace expansion programme • External marketing – ‘created in China’ • Local production clusters • NB: Long-term!

18. Simple and transformational: Ciclovia, Bogota, Colombia 1. The most impressive exercise in urban creativity

19. Tactical and practical: Tanzania (2005) 1. Recognising fragility, delicacy

20. Tactical and Practical: • Workspaces • Regeneration • Creative skills • Cultural expression • Enterprise • Economic development • Social inclusion • City marketing The Storey Creative Industries Centre Lancaster (2009)

21. 1. The beginnings of a grassroots culture of creative production Complex and Invisible Factory 798, Beijing, China, 2007

22. Complex and Invisible: Access-space Free media lab Open access learning community From e-consumers to digital producers Sheffield 1. Re-designing creative economics

23. Creativity re-discovering culture? Beijing, 2007

24. Some references Cunningham, S. (2004) ‘The creative industries after cultural policy: a genealogy and some possible preferred futures’. International journal of cultural studies, Vol 7(1), 105-115. Henry, C. (ed.) (2007). Entrepreneurship in the creative industries: An international perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Kong, L. & O’Connor, J. (eds.) (2009) Creative economies, creative cities: Asian-european perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer. Oakley, K. (2004) ‘Not so cool britannia: the role of the creative industries in economic development’. International journal of cultural studies, Vol7(1) 67-77. Scott, A.J. (2005). Creative cities: conceptual issues and policy questions. Paper presented at OECD International Conference on City Competitiveness, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain 3-4 March 2005. Wood, P. and Taylor, C. (2004). ‘Big ideas for a small town: the Huddersfield creative town initiative’. Local economy, Vol. 19 (4).

25. Thank you!