CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT : WIDENING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS

Abstract

Human creativity and innovation, at both the individual and group level, are the key drivers of these industries, and have become the true wealth of nations in the 21st century. Indirectly, culture increasingly underpins the ways in which people everywhere understand the world, see their place in it, affirm their human rights, and forge productive relationships with others. Unlocking the potential of the creative economy therefore involves promoting the overall creativity of societies, affirming the distinctive identity of the places where it flourishes and clusters, improving the quality of life where it exists, enhancing local image and prestige and strengthening the resources for imagining diverse new futures. In other words, the creative economy is the fount, metaphorically speaking, of a new “economy of creativity”, whose benefits go far beyond the economic realm alone.