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Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2

Mapping
the
Creative
Industries:
A Toolkit
2   Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit   3
Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2

Mapping
the
Creative
Industries:
A Toolkit
by BOP Consulting
CONTENTS
British Council’s Creative And Cultural
Economy Series ⁄
Published by The British Council
10 Spring Gardens,
London SW1A 2BN,
England                                                 07 – Preface
www.britishcouncil.org
                                                        09 – 1 ⁄ MAPPING THE CREATIVE INDUStries
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-086355-640-1                                   13 – 2  ⁄ the creative industries

Author: BOP Consulting ⁄                                23 – 3  ⁄ THE MAPPING TOOLKIT
                                                        24 – 	STEP 1 ⁄ Why do mapping?
BOP Consulting is an independent research and           28 – 	STEP 2 ⁄ Which policy questions can mapping address?
strategy consultancy specialising in culture and        36 – 	STEP 3 ⁄ how are the creative industries defined?
the creative industries. They are based in London.      40 –   step 4 ⁄ Who is in charge? Who does the work?
www.bop.co.uk                                           41 –   step 5 ⁄ Which research approach should be adopted?
                                                        47 – 	STEP 6 ⁄ How can the project’s findings connect with key audiences and policy agendas?
                                                        50 – 	STEP 7 ⁄ How can momentum be maintained?
Editors ⁄
Pablo Rosselló                                          52 – 4  ⁄ Where Next?
Shelagh Wright
                                                        56 – Appendix 1 - The BRITISH COUNCIL’s Creative Economy Unit
Publication Design ⁄                                    58 – Appendix 2 - Creative Industry SIC Codes
YCE Brand guidelines by BB Saunders
Design by Érika Muller

Photo Credits ⁄
© Aldeguer, Jay: page 56a
© Burns, Josephine: page 26
© DCMS/BIS: page 32
© Gauteng Provincial Government: page 43
© Noon, Frank: pages 56b, 57
© Rossello, Pablo: pages 1, 2-3, 8, 12, 18, 20, 22,
  31, 33, 35, 38, 48, 50, 54-55
© Slade, Jon: page 42
© Szynkarczuk, Olga: pages 60-61
© Vaz, Gaurav Joshua: page 6
© Zetu, Dragos: page 45

© British Council 2010 Creative Economy Unit
The United Kingdom’s international organisation
for educational opportunities and cultural
relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
preface
    In our interdependent contemporary                                     Shelagh Wright
    world at the start of the 21st century we                              Advisor, Creative and Cultural Economy
    face complex challenges, polarisation                                  Programme
    and inequality within and between
    nations. Development strategies                                        British Council
    are needed to unleash the creative                                     The British Council is committed to
    potential of all to respond to the far-                                working in partnership to help shape
    reaching cultural, economic, social                                    the contours of our shared creative and
    and technological shifts that we are                                   cultural economy through its values of
    living through. In this context the                                    equity, freedom of expression, mutuality
    concept of ‘the creative and cultural                                  and sustainability.
    economy’ is growing around the globe
    as the interface between culture,
    economics and technology. Our world
    is increasingly dominated by images,
    sounds, symbols and ideas that are
    creating new jobs, wealth and new
    culture. The UK has been a leader
    in the development of this agenda,
    not just as a driver of the economy
    but also promoting social inclusion,
    diversity and development. No-one
    can claim a monopoly on wisdom as
    innovative creative people all over the
    world are changing the way we make
    and exchange goods, services and
    culture. This booklet (and the series
    it is part of) is a contribution to our
    shared knowledge and expertise for this
    emergent and valuable sector. We hope
    you find it both stimulating and useful.

8   Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                         9
1 ⁄ Mapping the Creative
     Industries
     The products of the creative industries                                Thinking the steps through at this
     pervade contemporary life. Watching                                    stage will help researchers and other
     television, going to the cinema, reading                               interested parties understand the
     newspapers, listening to music, playing                                challenges they are likely to face. This
     computer games or socialising online                                   report also briefly discusses the place
     occupy many of the waking hours of                                     of the creative industries within broader
     the world’s citizens. This is not simply                               economic and historical contexts.
     confined to the old industrial heartlands                              If you would like to explore the
     of Europe and the United States: from                                  feasibility of a mapping project in
     the telenovelas of Latin America and                                   more depth, lists of suggested further
     Bollywood films to the design flair of                                 reading and organisations which can
     Korea’s Samsung, the creative industries                               provide more information are provided
     are a global phenomenon. Yet 15 years                                  in section 4.
     ago, the term ‘creative industries’
     was barely known. How, then, can this                                  1.1 Introduction
     phenomenon be understood and its                                       The desire to create things whose
     economic value quantified?                                             value is not purely practical – things
                                                                            that are beautiful, that communicate
     One method that has been developed                                     cultural value through music, drama,
     to help countries, regions or cities start                             entertainment and the visual arts,
     thinking about the value of the creative                               or that communicate social position
     industries is ‘mapping’. Pioneered in                                  through style and fashion – is as old as
     Britain in the late 1990s, mapping                                     human society itself. There have always
     extends well beyond the production                                     been, and always will be, people with
     of actual maps. It is shorthand for a                                  the imagination and talent to make and
     whole series of analytic methods for                                   do these things. Their products and
     collecting and presenting information                                  services are said to have an ‘expressive
     on the range and scope of the creative                                 value’, a cultural significance that may
     industries. Mapping is intended                                        bear little relationship to how much they
     especially to give an overview of the                                  cost to make.
     industries’ economic value, particularly                               In the twentieth century, these ancient
     in places where relatively little is known                             traditions of cultural work – designing,
     about them. This toolkit explores the                                  making, decorating and performing
     practicalities of using such methods.                                  – began to be woven together with a
     The toolkit draws on the experience of                                 range of modern economic activities
     the British Council and its consultants to                             such as advertising, design, fashion
     set out the seven steps of a successful                                and moving image media to create
     creative industries mapping project.                                   new forms of commercial culture. In

10   Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                         11
the first decade of this new century        as it is the activity of these industries
these developments have been hugely         which is being measured here. These                                                                              Those who will be organising the mapping need to start
                                                                                                                                                             by clearly thinking through why they want to do it and
amplified by the power and reach of         days, though, ‘creative economy’ is
                                                                                                                 Why do mapping?                             who they want to persuade.
digital technology.                         probably the more widely used term. In                                Who is it for?
The industries responsible for these        any case it is likely that each country or
products are a varied bunch, yet they       region will adapt the creative industries/
have certain things in common. Such         economy concept to suit its own needs.
industries earn their profits from the      It should also be noted that some                                                                                Creative industries mapping is rarely undertaken simply out
                                                                                                            Which policy questions                           of intellectual curiosity: it is intended to have an impact on
creative skills of their workforce and      organisations, such as the European                             can mapping be used to                           policy. Which areas is it likely to have most effect on?
the generation of intellectual property     Union and UNESCO, have generally                                       address?
(IP), and collectively have come to be      favoured an older term, the ‘cultural
known as the creative industries.           industries’. There is a substantial
Intellectual property law is the catalyst   academic literature debating the                                                                                 Deciding what is included in the study and what is not is
that transforms creative activity into      finer points of these distinctions1 ,                                                                            central to a successful mapping. A project may choose to
creative industry. It protects the          and people should be aware that the                              How are the creative                            assess all the creative industries or concentrate on just a
                                                                                                              industries defined?
creator’s ownership of ideas in the         terminology used in this toolkit is not                                                                          few sub-sectors.
same way that other laws protect the        uncontroversial.
right to the ownership of goods, land       However, this toolkit is intended to be a
or buildings. It allows the inventors of    practical guide to mapping – one that                                                                            Who will manage the mapping project and ensure the work
new products and processes to benefit       explores how to do it, which approach                              Who is in charge?                             is of high quality? There are a number of distinct roles that
from their creativity by providing a        would be best in any given context, and                           Who does the work?                             have to be filled.
framework within which they can work.       how to maximise the policy impact of
It also enables them to make choices        the work. It aims to help researchers,
about what they protect and what they       policymakers and creative practitioners
choose to give away.                        to understand the creative industries                                                                            There are a range of approaches available to the research
The creative industries do not, however,    better by setting out ways in which                                                                              team. Thought needs to be given to which would be most
                                                                                                                Which research
                                                                                                                                                             appropriate in the circumstances.
operate in isolation. They sit at the       evidence can be gathered. It draws on                             approach should be
centre of a web of connections with         both the UK’s experience and a number                                  adopted?
other industrial sectors, and are a         of mapping projects from around the
source of innovation for the wider          world that have been supported by the
                                                                                                                                                             How can the research team increase the likelihood of the
economy, particularly through design,       British Council’s Creative Economy Unit.                       How can the project’s
                                                                                                                                                             mapping findings being noticed and acted upon? How do
branding and advertising. They also         To help make sense of the process of                           findings connect with
                                                                                                          key audiences and policy                           they connect with key audiences and affect policy agendas?
have an important role to play in urban     running a successful creative industries                              agendas?
regeneration and community cohesion.        project, the toolkit sets out seven steps
This wider web is often referred to as      which need to be considered.
the creative economy.                                                                                                                                        On its own, the project is unlikely to achieve all its goals – it
The terms ‘creative industries’ and         Section 3 of the toolkit addresses                              How can momentum be                              needs to be part of an ongoing effort to raise the profile of
‘creative economy’ are both relatively      each of these seven steps in turn,                                  maintained?                                  the creative industries.
new and do not yet have fully settled       illustrated by case studies.
definitions. Sometimes they are used
interchangeably, sometimes they refer
                                            Notes ⁄
to related but separate concepts.           1. See, for instance, Flew, T. and Cunningham, S. (2010)
This toolkit uses the term ‘creative        Creative Industries After the First Decade of Debate, The
                                            Information Society, 26(2).
industries’ for the sake of simplicity,

12                                                                                                      Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                                    13
2  ⁄ The Creative Industries

     Before exploring the toolkit in detail, the                                   The adoption of the creative
     creative industries/creative economy                                   industries concept was very much
     concept will be discussed, and the                                     associated with the election of the
     reasons why it has become increasingly                                 New Labour government in 1997 and
     prominent in economic debates                                          the creation of the, then Department
     examined.                                                              for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS),
                                                                            now Department for Culture, Olympics,
     2.1 The Creative Industries in Britain                                 Media and Sport (DCOMS), which
     The term ‘creative industries’ originated                              built upon the functions of the earlier
     in the mid-to-late 1990s and was                                       Department of National Heritage. One
     first taken up at a national level by                                  of the new department’s first acts was
     the UK’s government. The concept                                       to set up the Creative Industries Task
     was an attempt to change the terms                                     Force, which was responsible for the
     of the debate about the value of                                       landmark Creative Industries Mapping
     arts and culture. While the arts were                                  Document in 1998 and a follow-up
     supported to some degree or other                                      report in 2001.
     by most governments, they tended                                              The 1998 mapping document
     to be seen as marginal to economic                                     was the first systematic attempt to
     life and dependent on public subsidy.                                  define and measure the creative
     Advocates of the creative industries                                   industries. It was designed both to
     idea believed that this was too narrow                                 collect data on the industries and to
     a view – the totality of economic                                      promote a deeper understanding of
     activity stemming from creativity and                                  the sector by telling its story in a way
     culture, including their commercial                                    that politicians, journalists, investors,
     forms, needed to be considered to                                      academics and government officials
     understand their true contribution. This                               could immediately understand. It
     activity included not just the traditional                             revealed, to the surprise of some,
     art forms, such as theatre, music and                                  just how economically significant the
     film, but service businesses such as                                   creative industries were. It calculated
     advertising (which sell their creative                                 that they accounted for almost a million
     skills mostly to other businesses),                                    jobs and 4 per cent of GDP in Britain,
     manufacturing processes that feed                                      and earned £7.5bn from exports. It
     into cultural production, and the retail                               also showed, though, that the sector
     of creative goods. It was argued that                                  was polarised between a myriad of
     the industries with their roots in culture                             very small firms and sole traders and a
     and creativity were an important and                                   handful of very large, often multinational
     growing source of jobs and wealth                                      companies.
     creation.

14   Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                         15
The idea of the creative              paintings, sculpture, furniture, maps,      • Interactive leisure software                                         services. It covers the creation,
industries soon started to catch on as it     drawings and prints. In Britain, most       This sub-sector principally consists                                   production and supply of tools
was seen as encapsulating a truth about       such businesses are small but some,         of computer and video games, but                                       and applications and of software
Britain’s changing economic landscape.        notably Sotheby’s and Christie’s, are       also includes some educational and                                     products, including web design. The
In particular, the definition adopted         internationally important.                  reference material. British gaming                                     large majority of employment in this
by the DCMS and the list of creative          • Crafts                                    firms have a reputation for innovation,                                sub-sector is based outside London.
industries derived from it soon became        The DCMS includes textiles, ceramics,       but many of the games they develop                                     American multinationals tend to
influential.                                  wood, metal, glass, graphic and leather     are sold by foreign-owned software                                     dominate in this field, but some British
        The DCMS regards the creative         crafts in this category. Businesses         publishers. DMA Design, a Scottish firm                                companies do well in niche markets,
industries as: ‘those activities which        in this field are mostly tiny: 75 per       responsible for the initial development                                including Autonomy and Sage in
have their origin in individual creativity,   cent are sole traders. The majority of      of the Grand Theft Auto series of                                      business software.
skill and talent and which have a             craftworkers are women and, perhaps         games, is now ultimately owned by                                      • Television and radio
potential for wealth and job creation         surprisingly, are mainly based in urban     Take-Two, an American publisher.                                       This sub-sector covers all public
through the generation and exploitation       areas.                                      • Music                                                                service, commercial, cable and satellite
of intellectual property1.’                   • Design                                    This includes both live and recorded                                   TV and radio, including the production
        In its first mapping document in      This sub-sector is hard to assess           music, music publishing and the                                        and broadcasting of programmes. The
1998, the DCMS went on to define the          as much of it is hidden within other        administration of music copyright.                                     BBC dominates the British market, but
following industries as creative:             industries. The DCMS therefore looked       Britain excels in most forms of music,                                 many independent companies have
• Advertising                                 at design consultancies and designers       from rock and pop to classical, and its                                devised formats which have been
In Britain, employment in advertising,        working in industry. It found that 70 per   consumers spend more per head on                                       successfully sold abroad. Who Wants
which includes marketing and some             cent of British design companies were       music than almost any other country.                                   to Be A Millionaire?, which has been
public relations activities, is dominated     active abroad. London in particular has     EMI, one of the music industry’s ‘majors’,                             shown in more than 100 countries,
by multinational agencies, and is heavily     a strong reputation in this field, based    is based in London.                                                    was developed by the independent
centred on London: it and New York are        on its excellent design schools.            • Performing Arts                                                      company, Celador.
widely regarded as the capitals of the        • Designer Fashion                          Theatre, dance, ballet, musicals and
advertising world. The London-based           Fashion design is a relatively small        opera performances all fall into this                                          The DCMS’s definition and list of
communications group, WPP, is the             sub-sector, but is highly integrated into   category. These art forms usually                                      the creative industries both provoked
world’s largest by revenue, employing         the international market – even small       depend on a mix of public subsidy and                                  considerable debate. It has been
almost 140,000 people in more than            fashion businesses look to export their     private ticket sales and funding. Some                                 argued, for example, that almost all new
100 countries.                                products. Britain’s fashion schools have    parts of the sub-sector are nonetheless                                products have elements of creativity
• Architecture                                helped train numerous internationally       big revenue earners: London’s West End                                 and intellectual property embedded
Like many creative industries, the            renowned designers, from John Galliano      theatre, with its wide variety of musicals                             within them. Separating off a handful
architecture sub-sector is made up of         to Stella McCartney.                        and plays, is a major tourist attraction.                              of industries and labelling them as
a handful of big firms and a very large       • Film and video                            • Publishing                                                           ‘creative’ is, according to this view,
number of small ones. The sub-sector’s        This sub-sector includes film               The publishing of books, newspapers,                                   rather arbitrary.
fortunes are closely linked to those of       production, distribution and exhibition.    magazines and electronic information                                           More specific criticisms of the
the construction industry. A number           Although the UK has a number of             is one of the largest employers among                                  list have also been made. The inclusion
of British architects have achieved           successful home-grown producers,            the creative industries. The widespread                                of the computer software sub-sector
international reputations, including          such as Working Title, the Hollywood        use of English internationally means                                   has often been questioned. It is a large
Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and             studios dominate the British market.        that book publishing in particular is a                                employer in many parts of Britain, yet
David Chipperfield.                           The number of films produced in Britain,    globally connected industry.                                           much of it consists of conventional
• Art and antiques market                     and their box-office returns, fluctuates    • Software and Computer Services                                       business software and consultancy
This sub-sector includes dealers              considerably from year to year.             The biggest creative industry of all                                   rather than the more creative elements
and auctioneers of antique jewellery,                                                     in the UK is software and computer                                     such as computer games development

16                                                                                        Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                         17
or interactive media. The presence of        ‘knowledge economy’ – that part of          Key events in the evolution of the creative industries concept and policies
the antiques trade on the DCMS list has      the economy which employs graduate
also been challenged, on the grounds         talent
                                                                                                                                                                                          Creative Britain
that there is no fresh act of creation       • contributing to the regeneration of                                                       Creative Industries
                                                                                                                                                                                          report 2008
involved, merely the retail of pre-          towns and cities                                                                            Economic Estimates first
                                                                                                                                         published 2002
existing ones.                               • connecting and working with further
                                                                                                 2nd DCMS Creative
         Although some minor                 and higher education
                                                                                                 Industries Mapping                                      Creative Economy
adjustments have been made to the            • bringing communities and people                   Document 2001                                           Programme 2005-07
list in response to these and other          together through shared experiences.
criticisms, the 1998 definition is                                                       British Council’s Creative
still essentially the one used by the                In 2006, the UK government          Industries (now Economy)                              Creative London                                Digital Britain
DCMS today. It is often used by other        formally adopted the term ‘creative         Unit set up 1999                                      launched 2004                                  report 2009
countries as the basis for developing        economy’ to capture this sense of
their own definition.                        the wider contribution of the creative
         The idea of the creative            industries to economic and social life.       1997 DCMS established                    2001                                         2005
industries as set out in the DCMS            This toolkit is concerned with mapping
mapping documents was quickly                the creative industries themselves, so
embraced not just by Britain’s national      many of these broader connections           1st DCMS Creative                             (London) Mayor’s
                                                                                                                                                                                             UN’s Creative Economy
government but also by its cities,           and relationships fall outside its scope.   Industries Mapping                            Commission on Creative
                                                                                                                                                                                             Report 2008
regions and local government, partly         Nevertheless, these connections are         Document 1998                                 Industries 2002
                                                                                         Establishment of
encouraged by the work of the DCMS’s         significant, and might well be the                                                                                                     ‘Creative economy’ term
                                                                                         Creative Industries Task
Regional Issues Working Group3 . A           subject of further research once an         Force 1998                                                                                 formally adopted by UK
host of initiatives and programmes was       initial mapping exercise is complete4 .                                                           WIPO establishes                     government 2006
launched by many public bodies, and                  The timeline on the right gives a        DCMS Regional Issues                             Creative Industries
‘creative’ became a new economic             sense of the way in which the creative           Working Group set up                             Division 2005
development buzzword. At one time or         industries concept has developed and             1999
other in the last decade, for instance,      been translated into evidence and
the creative industries have been            policy in the UK since 1997.
a priority sector for all of England’s
regions. This enthusiasm coincided           The decision to produce the first
with sharp rises in employment in the        Creative Industries Mapping Document         Department for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (previously dcms)
creative industries in Britain in the late   in 1998 turned out to be a momentous
1990s, which lent weight to the new          one. It was the first systematic attempt     Since the publication of the mapping documents in 1998 and 2001, the
model.                                       anywhere to measure the creative             Department for Culture has continued to carry out research into the creative
         As time has gone on, however, it    industries on a national scale. It drew      industries. From 2002 onwards it has produced annual Creative Industries
has increasingly been recognised that        attention to a sector which, with its mix    Economic Estimates bulletins, which provide a detailed analysis of the creative
the creative industries cannot be seen       of technology and a long and complex         industries in Britain and are available online. The most recent figures show that
in isolation. They have a number of          cultural heritage, is unlike any other       the creative industries in Britain employed more than 1.1 million people (in
important, wider dimensions, including:      sector of the economy.                       2008), and accounted for £16.6bn of exports and 6.2% of GVA (in 2007). The
• adding value to other industries,                  Although the mapping document        DCOMS has built up considerable expertise in mapping, and is happy to share
notably through design, advertising and      focused just on the creative industries,     its knowledge with other countries. It is particularly interested in encouraging
branding                                     it was the trigger for a series of           more accurate comparisons between countries. If you want to learn more about
• being major employers of highly            developments which have rippled out          the DCOMS’s work, or wish to explore the idea of collaborating on developing
skilled people, thus being part of the       across the British economy, leading to       comparative data, the British Council can help facilitate such discussions.

18                                                                                       Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                                  19
2.2 The Creative Industries:                                                  Creative industries mapping
                                                                                           International Context                                                  exercises have now been carried out
                                                                                           The UK’s decision to produce the first                                 in many parts of the world. The British
                                                                                           Creative Industry Mapping Document                                     Council has been involved in such work
                                                                                           in 1998 turned out to be an important                                  in Colombia, Estonia, Indonesia and
                                                                                           milestone internationally too. The                                     South Africa, among others.
                                                                                           definition and list of industries it                                          International agencies,
                                                                                           contained were soon noticed and taken                                  too, have adopted the idea of the
                                                                                           up, particularly in East Asia. Hong Kong,                              creative industries or the creative
                                                                                           Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and China all                                 economy. UNCTAD (the UN’s trade and
                                                                                           developed analyses of their creative                                   development body) has led the way,
                                                                                           industries, based to a greater or lesser                               being the lead agency responsible
                                                                                           extent on the UK model. In most cases,                                 for the UN’s Creative Economy Report
                                                                                           the model has been adapted to fit local                                2008 7.
a greater recognition of the importance      economic performance of the creative          needs. Singapore, for instance, has                                           UNCTAD notes in its report that
of creativity across the economy and         industries. Between 2005 and 2007             produced a classification framework                                    ‘the creative economy has become
society as a whole. It has led to a richer   the DCMS launched a major research            which groups the creative industries                                   a topical issue of the international
understanding of the creative sector         project, the Creative Economy                 under three broad headings: arts and                                   economic and development agenda,
and has helped to shape policy both in       Programme, which resulted in 2008 in          culture, design, and media.                                            calling for informed policy responses
the UK and internationally.                  Creative Britain 5, a report which set out            Other parts of the world, notably                              in both developed and developing
        The work of the Regional Issues      a support programme for the creative          Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia,                                countries 8’ . UNCTAD statistics reveal it
Working Group helped encourage               sector that touched on education, skills,     took up the notion too, though                                         accounts for a significant and growing
lower-level tiers of government in           innovation and intellectual property. A       sometimes with significant differences                                 slice of the world’s economy. The
Britain to take up the idea early on.        further landmark was the publication of       from the UK’s approach. Sweden, for                                    Creative Economy Report 2008 quotes
In 2002 London’s then mayor, Ken             Digital Britain 6 in 2009, which sets out     example, talks about the ‘experience                                   some impressive figures for the size of
Livingstone, established a Commission        the country’s ambitions for the digital       economy’ which, while including the                                    the creative industries. It calculates they
on the creative industries, to assess        age. One striking aspect of the Digital       creative industries, also embraces the                                 account for:
their value and potential contribution       Britain report is its focus on the creative   likes of the restaurant business. In India,                            • 3.4 per cent of world trade (in 2005)
to the city’s economy. As a world            industries: it is evidence of the extent      the definition includes lifestyle products                             • $424 billion of exports (in 2005),
city, London’s creative industries are       to which the digital and creative sectors     and services, like yoga and Ayurvedic                                  growing at an average annual rate of
unusually strong; in 2001 they were          are merging due to technological              medicine.                                                              8.7 per cent between 2000 and 2005.
found to be second only to the financial     change. Indeed, many public bodies                                                                                   Source: UN Creative Economy Report 2008, p5
sector in importance to London’s             in Britain now refer to these two as a
economy. The Commission led to the           single economic grouping.                     Singapore’s classification framework for the creative industries
establishment of Creative London,                    Britain’s example, then, as the
which aimed both to promote the city’s       first country to take up the idea of the              Arts and culture                                      Design                              Media
creative industries and to use them to       creative industries, is a helpful one to
pursue the mayor’s broader ambitions         explore. It has a wealth of experience         •   Photography                               •   Software                             •   Publishing
of regenerating some of the more run-        on which to draw. However, it is by            •   Visual arts                               •   Advertising                          •   TV & radio
down parts of the city and enhancing         no means the only country to have              •   Performing arts                           •   Architecture                         •   Digital media
London’s brand.                              adopted the concept. The following             •   Arts and antiques                         •   Interior design                      •   Film and video
        More recently, government            section discusses the creative industries          trade, Crafts                             •   Graphic design
strategies have increasingly been            in their international context.                                                              •   Industrial design
concerned with strengthening the                                                                                                          •   Fashion

20                                                                                         Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                                21
The creative industries are          Foundation argues that for many of its          Organisation (WIPO), which has devised
important both to developed nations         smaller members in particular, which            a ‘copyright’ model that divides the
and developing ones. They matter to         lack the capacity to exploit economies          creative industries up into three
richer countries because they depend        of scale, the creative industries offer         categories: core, interdependent and
for their success on the creativity of      better prospects for growth than many           partial copyright industries. This model
their workforces and, as such, their        other sectors 9 .                               seeks to include all the industries
competitiveness relies less on price                                                        involved in the creation, manufacture,
than on the quality and imagination of                                                      production, broadcast and distribution
their work. In turn, this suggests that                                                     and consumption of copyrighted works,
they are less likely to lose out to the                                                     and thus results in a rather different list
price-led competition which has caused                                                      from the DCMS’s.
many manufacturing and service jobs to                                                              Initiatives like these have helped
be outsourced to emerging economies.                                                        make governments more aware of
       However, the creative industries                                                     the value of the creative industries
also offer potential benefits to emerging                                                   and intellectual property to the global
economies. These countries also often                                                       economy.
wish to move away from competing
solely on price, and are looking to                 UNESCO, the UN’s cultural arm,          For more general information on the creative
                                                                                            industries and creative economy, please refer
identify new sources of competitive         has taken a more cautious approach to           to the British Council’s Creative and Cultural
advantage and cultural recognition.         the idea of the creative industries, but        Economy series/1 publication.
Creative businesses, driven as they         the most recent revision of its cultural
are by ideas and creativity, do not         statistics framework in 2009 has taken
necessarily need access to large            more account of them10.                         Notes ⁄
                                                                                            2. DCMS (1998) Creative Industries Mapping Document
sums of capital or natural resources.               Other organisations have put            1998, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, p3.
For countries with rich cultures and        forward alternative models of the               3. DCMS (2000) Creative Industries: The Regional
a pool of local creative talent, the        creative industries. Perhaps the most           Dimension, The Report of the Regional Issues Working
                                                                                            Group, DCMS, London
creative economy offers a way to build      interesting of these is one produced
                                                                                            4. For an interesting attempt at measuring the creative
economic value. The Commonwealth            by the World Intellectual Property              economy in Britain, see Higgs, P., Cunningham, S., and
                                                                                            Bakhshi, H. (2009) Beyond the creative industries:
                                                                                            mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom,
                                                                                            NESTA, London.
WIPO’s copyright model of the creative industries
                                                                                            5. DCMS (2008), Creative Britain: New Talents for the
                                                                                            New Economy, DCMS/BERR/DIUS, London.
       Core copyright             Interdependent               Partial copyright            6.  Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (2009),
                                                                                            Digital Britain, Norwich, TSO.
         industries             copyright industries              industries
                                                                                            7. United Nations (2008) Creative Economy Report
 •   Advertising              • Blank recording           •   Architecture                  2008: The Challenge of Assessing the Creative Economy:
                                                                                            towards Informed Policy-making, United Nations, Geneva.
 •   Collecting societies       material                  •   Clothing, footwear
                                                                                            8.   Ibid., p4.
 •   Film and video           • Consumer electronics      •   Design
                                                                                            9.  Commonwealth Foundation (2008) Putting Culture
 •   Music                    • Musical instruments       •   Fashion                       First: Commonwealth perspectives on culture and
 •   Performing arts          • Paper                     •   Household goods               development
 •   Publishing               • Photocopiers,             •   Toys                          10. UNESCO Institute of Statistics (2009), 2009 UNESCO
                                                                                            Framework for Cultural Statistics, UNESCO Institute of
 •   Software                   photographic,                                               Statistics, Montreal.
 •   TV and radio               equipment
 •   Visual and graphic art

                                              Source: UN Creative Economy Report 2008, p5
22                                                                                          Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit   23
3  ⁄ The Mapping Toolkit

     The creative industries, then, is a                                             It should be made clear that
     concept which is rising in prominence.                                 ‘mapping’ extends well beyond
     However, the fast-changing and cross-                                  the production of actual maps. It is
     cutting nature of the industries poses                                 shorthand for a whole series of analytic
     challenges both for private investors,                                 methods for collecting and presenting
     who may not fully grasp the ways in                                    information on the range and scope of
     which the industries are evolving, and                                 the creative industries (or a particular
     governments, which need to better                                      part of them). This toolkit describes
     understand the sector if they are to                                   these techniques and assesses their
     release the full potential of their creative                           strengths and limitations.
     economies and develop appropriate                                               However, the mapping research
     policies. In many places, very little is                               itself cannot be considered in isolation.
     known about the creative industries’                                   It lies at the centre of a series of other
     location and size, or what their needs                                 issues – political, managerial, practical
     might be. Mapping is designed to be a                                  – which shape the success or failure
     first step in addressing this.                                         of a project. We have identified seven
                                                                            steps which have to be addressed if
                                                                            the mapping is to achieve its desired
                                                                            results.

24   Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                          25
STEP 1 ⁄ Why do mapping?                      Beyond simply raising their profile,         agendas, such as urban regeneration,                                            If such people are to be
                                              mapping can give insights into the           rural development or social cohesion.                                  persuaded, though, the project
To begin at the beginning: why do a           structure of the creative industries.        Making the creative industries’                                        needs to be credible. The sponsor
mapping exercise at all?                      They are a varied and fast-changing          contribution more visible through                                      therefore needs to give some thought
A mapping exercise seeks to assess            group. Evidence from Britain and other       mapping can help policymakers see                                      to the feasibility of the project,
the value of the creative industries          countries suggests that they sometimes       how the industries could play a role                                   and in particular the availability
to the wider economy. This might be           cluster together in certain places,          in these other areas. In turn, this may                                of information. All countries have
demonstrated through measures such            and each industry faces its own set of       allow some of the creative industries’                                 national statistics agencies, either as
as employment, the number and size            issues. Mapping projects can reveal          needs to be addressed as part of wider                                 part of their governmental structures
of creative businesses, exports, gross        some of these patterns and how they          initiatives.                                                           or sometimes as semi-independent
value added, or the composition of the        are changing. This in turn is important                                                                             bodies. In some places, there are also
workforce (by gender or ethnicity, for        for the third consideration – planning       Who is it for?                                                         regional or city-based ‘observatories’
instance).                                    for future growth.                                    The idea for a mapping project                                that collect information on labour
       There are five main reasons why        3 ⁄ To plan for future growth.               may arise from any of a number of                                      markets, businesses and employment.
someone might want to carry out such          Understanding where you are now is           sources: a senior civil servant or a                                   If a mapping exercise can adapt such
an exercise.                                  essential to being able to plan sensibly.    creative entrepreneur, for instance.                                   statistics to reflect the circumstances
                                              The creative industries often face           However, if a project proposal is to                                   and character of the creative industries,
1 ⁄ To raise the profile of the creative      particular challenges, such as finding       be taken forward, a sponsor has to                                     it is likely to help the credibility of the
industries.                                   affordable workspace, getting access         be found – someone who can secure                                      mapping project considerably. It is
A mapping project is first and foremost       to high-speed broadband services, and        financial and political backing for the                                therefore important to check if these
an exercise in getting the creative           access to skilled labour. Mapping can        project. British (and international)                                   agencies have reasonably reliable
industries noticed and recognised. The        help identify the needs of the creative      experience suggests this person is                                     figures, and effective methods for
sector is an unusual one, cutting across      industries and suggest ways in which         likely to be a politician. He or she                                   collecting and analysing the data.
traditional industrial classifications and    they might be addressed.                     will have become interested in the                                              It is worth noting that, even
changing rapidly as technology evolves.       4 ⁄ To engage leaders in the policy          creative industries and wants to raise                                 in countries which have generally
As such, it often has a comparatively         issues affecting creative industries.        the industries’ profile by getting their                               good statistical services, certain
low profile compared with, say, financial     By raising the profile of the creative       economic value recognised and                                          individual surveys may be less reliable
services, manufacturing, or industries        industries and providing an evidence         understood.                                                            than others. Factors that have to be
based around the exploitation of natural      base on their size and location,                      The sponsor needs to start                                    considered are the size of the sample,
resources. A mapping project can raise        mapping provides a platform on which         thinking early on about who the project                                the geography at which the data
awareness of the economic value of the        to build policy arguments. It encourages     is ultimately for – who is he or she                                   was collected, and the availability of
industries, which is often substantial. It    politicians to take the sector seriously     hoping to influence? Is the ambition                                   comparator years. There is inevitably
can also help create common frames            and to develop policies to push the          to get officials in government or                                      also a time lag in compiling statistics,
of reference for talking about the            creative industries agenda forward.          national statistics agencies to pay more                               which can be a problem in the fast-
creative industries. This in turn can be      Mapping can also help persuade other         attention to the quality of data on the                                changing environment of the creative
useful in increasing their political clout,   potentially influential groups, such as      creative industries? Is it to persuade                                 sector.
so allowing them to get their needs           journalists or civil servants, of the need   politicians to make policy changes? Or                                          If reliable data is not available, as
taken more seriously. It can also help        to support the creative sector.              is it to get the creative sector itself to                             is the case in some emerging (and even
creative businesspeople in the different      5 ⁄ To support wider political or            think more deeply about its strengths                                  developed) economies, the suitability
industries to see what they have in           economic objectives.                         and weaknesses? This decision has                                      of non-governmental statistics needs
common.                                       Sometimes the interest in the creative       implications for the conduct of the                                    to be explored. This might be data
2 ⁄   To learn more about the sector –        industries lies not so much in the           mapping exercise, as the later steps in                                collected by trade associations or
what is happening and where is it taking      industries themselves but in their           the process will show.                                                 industry bodies, by trade publications
place?                                        potential contribution to other pressing                                                                            or online networks, or by NGOs, private

26                                                                                         Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                             27
businesses or universities. By patching       Case study: Vietnam – Binh Duong Province
such data together it may be possible
to create workable datasets for a             Vietnam’s economy has grown very quickly in recent years, and creative
mapping exercise.                             businesses are being established, especially in the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City
        If even these are not available,      (HCMC). National networks are beginning to develop, too, notably Viet Craft,
the project researchers are going to          which has 450 members. As wage costs rise in the wake of economic growth,
have to compile their own data. The           Vietnam is starting to think about ways of encouraging businesses to move up
project sponsor needs to think through        the value chain.
the feasibility of this – how much might      Vietnam has just begun to explore the concept of the creative industries. The
it cost, and what level of coverage           British Council recently undertook an exploratory visit to Binh Duong Province,
might be achieved.                            a district just to the north of HCMC. The provincial government sees the creative
        It may be that there is too           industries as a potential source of growth. Binh Duong Province already has
little data from any source to run a          a number of firms making good-quality ‘creative’ goods – principally crafts –
mapping project. If the sponsor still         for export, but these tend to use imported designs. It also has several media
wants to raise the profile of the creative    companies.
industries, there are other strategies
that can be adopted. One alternative is       The consultant representing the British Council sought to assess the strengths
to hold a series of events or seminars        and weaknesses of the province’s creative industries, especially in the design
designed to encourage understanding           and crafts sub-sectors, and to examine the possibilities of a mapping project. She
and debate. These might involve the           spoke to businesspeople, creative entrepreneurs, higher education institutions
creative sector itself, wider interests in    and government officials. A seminar was also held in Ho Chi Minh City, to
the business world, and government            encourage debate about the creative industries.
officials in departments such as trade
                                              The conclusions stemming from the visit were mixed. There is some local
and investment, culture, education,
                                              enthusiasm for the creative industries on which to build, but doubts were
exports and economics. The British
                                              expressed by officials about the quality of available statistics and there was little
Council supports a number of such
                                              evidence of relevant expertise in the local universities.
programmes (see appendix 1).
                                              In a case like this, therefore, a full-scale mapping project at this stage would
                                              be premature. Instead, the reliability of local and national statistics needs to be
                                              further investigated, sources of creative industry expertise have to be identified,
                                              and an assessment has to be made of which industries it would be useful to
                                              map. It might make more sense in this case to provide a broad overview of the
                                              creative sector followed by detailed work on a handful of industries: design,
                                              crafts and media. In the meantime, awareness could be raised by holding
                                              seminars on topics of interest to local firms, such as branding and innovation,
                                              and strengthening creative networks.

28                                           Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit    29
STEP 2 ⁄ Which policy questions              Areas of policy interest                         Urban regeneration in the UK
can mapping address?
                                             Creative industries mapping or                   In a number of British cities clusters of creative industries have contributed
Mapping projects are rarely undertaken       evidence-gathering exercises have                to urban economic revival. Sometimes this has been unplanned: artists and
simply out of intellectual curiosity. Most   shaped the UK’s policy approach in               creative people have moved to certain city neighbourhoods and have built a
project organisers have ambitions to         all three of these policy areas. The             new economy there. In other cases, local government has made a conscious
influence the future development of the      following case studies look at examples          effort to strengthen the creative industries in a locality by providing assistance,
creative industries. To do this, though,     from across the country                          sometimes by designating the district a creative or cultural ‘quarter’.
they need to understand which policy                                                          An example of the first is Shoreditch, a neighbourhood in east-central London,
areas mapping projects can realistically     Local (place-based) economic                     which has been transformed by the creative industries over the last 15 years.
hope to influence. A research report         development                                      The decline in manufacturing in London throughout the twentieth century
commissioned as part of the DCMS’s           Regions and cities are often most                saw Shoreditch’s traditional industries, notably furniture and textiles, virtually
Creative Economy Programme11                 interested in the contribution of the            disappear, leaving the area poor and economically depressed. However, it also
suggested there were three that are          creative industries to local economic            left warehouse space behind. London as a whole has a large population of art
particularly important (see table below).    development. The creative industries             and design students and working artists, who are always looking for cheap,
                                             have a tendency to cluster together,             flexible workspace in the inner city. In the 1990s Shoreditch thus began to be
                                             often in city districts that have been           colonised by artists, a trend which was symbolised by the establishment of the
                                             abandoned by traditional manufacturing           White Cube gallery in Hoxton Square, the spiritual home of the Young British
                                             industries. Creative businesses are              Artists (YBAs), such as Damien Hirst.
                                             also often very small in size, strongly
                                             rooted in their local communities, and           As more and more artists moved to the area Shoreditch acquired a more
                                             employers of highly skilled people. As           fashionable image. This attracted more mainstream creative businesses, in fields
                                             such, they can help to regenerate run-           such as advertising, architecture, photography and, especially, design. This wave
                                             down areas, help a place to diversify            of affluent professionals in turn attracted bars, restaurants and clubs to the area,
                                             its local economy and allow an area to           leading to it becoming one of the centres of London nightlife with a reputation
                                             ‘rebrand’ itself.                                for being on the cutting edge of London style. Shoreditch has become a classic
                                                                                              example of inner-city gentrification. More recent developments have included
                                                                                              an upmarket hotel and a major new gallery for multicultural art, Rivington Place.
                                                                                              The rising rents and a tendency for warehouses to be converted into residential
                                                                                              space have started to push out the artists responsible for the area’s revival; they
Areas of policy interest                                                                      have begun to move further east.
                                                                                              The Shoreditch cluster was largely unplanned, but it was soon noticed by
   Local (place-based)                 National                                               local and city-wide government bodies. A number of mapping exercises were
                                                                 Cultural policy
 economic development              industrial policy                                          undertaken, and policies devised to support the growth of creative industries
 • City or regional growth • Innovation                   •   Architecture                    in the area. There were also some unexpected knock-on effects: Westminster,
 • Regeneration            • International                •   Cultural co-operation           the traditional centre of creative industries in London, commissioned a mapping
 • Local and regional        competitiveness              •   Cultural diversity              study to help it understand why some of its businesses were moving to
   cluster development                                    •   Cultural exchange               Shoreditch.
 • Regional economic                                      •   Cultural identity               The creative industries are a large and dynamic sector in London. In other
   diversification                                        •   New cultural forms              places in Britain the creative industries make up a relatively smaller share of the
 • Place-making/ city and                                                                     economy. Local government in such areas have often made more systematic
   regional branding                                                                          attempts to encourage Shoreditch-style creative clusters.
                                                              Source: BOP Consulting, 2006

30                                                                                           Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit   31
In Manchester, for instance, the city has built on the growth of the creative
industries in the Northern Quarter district of the city centre. As in Shoreditch,
its traditional industries had declined, leaving cheap space behind that proved
attractive to creative industries, especially in fashion, galleries, and music.
Affleck’s Palace, an indoor market that is something of a Manchester institution,
embodies the bohemian culture which has taken root in the area with its many
small creative retailers. When it became clear that the city centre was attracting
creative industries the city council took an active role in supporting and
promoting them. As a result of a mapping and research study, it set up CIDS (the
Creative Industries Development Service), an organisation based in the Northern
Quarter that provided support and information to creative businesses across
the city. The growth of the creative industries has been credited in part with
reversing the longstanding decline in the residential population of the city centre.
Birmingham is attempting to do something similar in Digbeth, which lies just
south of its city centre. The district has been identified by the city council as
a potential hub for the creative industries in that city. Like Shoreditch and the
Northern Quarter, Digbeth has largely been abandoned by manufacturing
and wholesaling businesses, leaving potentially usable space behind. Private
developers have taken note and have converted a number of buildings in the
area for use by creative industries. The first of these was the Custard Factory,
a former food-processing facility, which is now home to 250 small creative
businesses. Its success has been repeated nearby at Fazeley Studios, a former
chapel, and at The Bond, a converted Victorian warehouse.
Birmingham City Council is looking to build on these successes to establish a
creative cluster. It has plans to upgrade broadband connections in the area to
create a digital hub and has supported a new campus of the South Birmingham
College in the area, which offers a number of courses related to the creative
industries. Together with public realm improvements, and the area’s strong
reputation for live music, it is hoped that a ‘buzz’ can be created in Digbeth to
attract new businesses and residents.

32                                                                                     Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit   33
National industrial policy                                                             Cultural policy                                                       allowing them to re-invent themselves
                                                                                                                                                             in new forms.
At a national level, policymakers are                                                  The third area of interest is cultural
often more interested in the creative                                                  policy. The creative industries have
industries as a source of international                                                their roots in longstanding cultural
competitiveness and as a key part of                                                   traditions. Indeed, for many creative
the debate on national industrial policy                                               businesspeople the cultural value of
in the fields of innovation, technology                                                their work is at least as important as
and intellectual property. The digital                                                 its economic value. In a globalised,
revolution (or ‘digital shift’ as it is                                                connected world many places are
sometimes known) has put creative                                                      wrestling with the question of how to
businesses, especially in media, on                                                    maintain their cultural identity without
the front line of these issues. Their                                                  becoming ‘living museums’. Commercial
experience has lessons for other parts                                                 culture can be a way of ensuring the
of the economy which are facing similar                                                survival of cultural traditions by giving
challenges.                                                                            them a new value and importance or by

Digital Britain                                                                         The European Capital of Culture programme
British government ministers have for some years now identified the creative            The European Capital (or City) of Culture programme (ECoC) is an example of
industries as a particular strength of Britain’s economy, and have declared an          the way in which culture can be used to change the image of a place and spur
ambition to see the UK become the world’s creative hub. This is reflected in the        the development of the creative sector. ECoC was the brainchild of the Greek
focus of government bodies; both the Technology Strategy Board and UK Trade             actress turned politician, Melina Mercouri, who wanted to raise culture’s profile
and Investment (UKTI) have identified the creative industries as a priority area for    in the European Union. Although it was launched in 1986, it wasn’t until 1990,
their activities. This thinking has also helped shape recent policy and legislation.    when Glasgow was the host city, that the idea really began to have an impact.
                                                                                        As a study of the ECoC hosts observed, ‘Glasgow was a turning point … in that
The Digital Britain report, published by the government in 2009, was Britain’s          the city set multiple aims with specific reference to cultural, economic and social
most serious attempt to date to come to grips with the new digital age12.               goals. Almost all cities that followed have taken a similar approach’13. These goals
Stephen Carter, the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting            included boosting tourism, improving the city’s image, revitalising the city and
at the time (the report’s author), described it as ‘an overdue recognition of           increasing the number of creative industries and jobs.
the industrial importance of the creative industries’. The report frequently
mentions the challenge posed by other nations’ plans for digital technology             Glasgow’s year as ECoC was part of a 25 year-long effort to use culture to build
and infrastructure, in particular the high levels of public and private investment      up its identity. Although Glasgow had been one of the great trading centres of
in broadband infrastructure in countries such as the United States, Japan and           the Victorian era ¬– it was known as the second city of the British Empire – by
Australia.                                                                              the 1970s and ‘80s it had lost much of its manufacturing base and had acquired
                                                                                        a reputation for poverty and violence. In the words of a city official, it was
The report had three broad themes: increasing digital participation; building           perceived as ‘the worst corner of Britain’14 . In the ‘80s, the city council decided
a new communications infrastructure; and modernising the relevant legal and             to give culture and creativity a prominent role in its regeneration efforts.
regulatory frameworks. Many of the proposals in it deal with the production and
trade of creative goods and services, the role of intellectual property, and the        These began with the Glasgow’s Miles Better publicity campaign, which stressed
relationship between the public and private sectors. In particular, the report          the city’s cultural assets, including the then recently opened Burrell Collection,
saw piracy as a major threat to the future health of the creative industries and        and the city’s hosting of a Garden Festival in 1988. Things took a big step
put forward proposals for dealing with it. A number of these policy proposals           forward in 1990, when the city’s year as European Capital of Culture helped it
became law with the passing of the Digital Economy Bill in April 2010.                  become a presence on the international stage. It improved the image of the city

34                                                                                     Creative and Cultural Economy series ⁄ 2 – Mapping the Creative Industries: A Toolkit                         35
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