Linking Networks: Uniting Hubs to Fuel Capacity
The UK's creative industries are set to experience growth and transformation, thanks to a new report titled "Creative Corridors: connecting clusters to unleash potential." Funded by Arts Council England and researched by Creative PEC, this report is a significant contribution to understanding creative clusters and microclusters in the UK.
Launched recently, the report identifies specific geographic areas with established hotspots of regional creative industries. These areas, known as Creative Corridors, serve as a place-based policy tool for local leaders to harness and support the creative industries.
The Northern Corridor(s), Edinburgh-Glasgow-Dundee Corridor, Cardiff-Newport-Bristol-Bath-Gloucester/Cheltenham Corridor, West Midlands Corridor, East Midlands and Sheffield Corridor, Cambridge Corridor, and the London supercluster were identified in the report. These corridors, which include the Thames Estuary Production Corridor and emerging pan-regional creative development between Cardiff and Bristol, are expected to yield several specific benefits.
Implementing Creative Corridors can foster creativity and innovation through concentrated co-location and collaboration of creative occupations. By bringing together diverse creative industries such as architecture, software, publishing, and film, these corridors support productivity gains by streamlining creative processes, encouraging new business models, and enabling shared resources and expertise that reduce operational costs.
They also support SMEs by mitigating financial risks related to creative experimentation and product development. This, in turn, strengthens the resilience and commercial capacity of small creative firms.
Creative Corridors can contribute to local economic and social vitality by creating high-paid, secure jobs and enriching cultural life across regions. They may promote inclusivity and accessibility within creative industries through deliberate policy design and collaboration with metro mayors and civic leaders, ensuring vibrant, accessible creative ecosystems post-pandemic.
Furthermore, these corridors provide a platform for advocacy, policy innovation, and coalition-building among creative and cultural stakeholders, driving national and local policy change that benefits grassroots organisations and the creative workforce.
Dr Emily Hopkins, a Policy Adviser at Creative PEC, authored the report. The report is a starting point for growing and positively changing the landscape of creative industries across all regions in the UK. The report and launch event, featuring discussions with metro mayors, visual artists, tech entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, is now available for download and online viewing.
As the UK political landscape moves towards increased devolution of power, the deployment of Creative Corridors is expected to drive economic growth, foster innovation, and strengthen local creative ecosystems, aligning with the UK government’s modern industrial and trade strategies that emphasize place-based investment and regional development.
- The UK report titled "Creative Corridors" aims to understand creative clusters and microclusters within the UK, funded by Arts Council England and researched by Creative PEC.
- The report identifies specific regions as Creative Corridors, including the Northern Corridor(s), Edinburgh-Glasgow-Dundee Corridor, Cardiff-Newport-Bristol-Bath-Gloucester/Cheltenham Corridor, West Midlands Corridor, East Midlands and Sheffield Corridor, Cambridge Corridor, and the London supercluster.
- These Creative Corridors are expected to foster creativity and innovation through concentrated co-location and collaboration of creative occupations.
- By bringing together diverse creative industries, these corridors support productivity gains, new business models, and shared resources and expertise that reduce operational costs.
- These corridors can help SMEs by mitigating financial risks related to creative experimentation and product development, strengthening their resilience and commercial capacity.
- Creative Corridors contribute to local economic and social vitality by creating high-paid, secure jobs and enriching cultural life across regions, promoting inclusivity and accessibility within creative industries.
- The report provides a platform for advocacy, policy innovation, and coalition-building among creative and cultural stakeholders, driving national and local policy change that benefits grassroots organizations and the creative workforce.
- As the UK political landscape moves towards increased devolution of power, the deployment of Creative Corridors is expected to align with the UK government’s modern industrial and trade strategies, emphasizing place-based investment and regional development.
