The Geography of Creativity in the UK

While it is equally well known that the creative industries are engines of growth in cities like London, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, their importance in other parts of the UK is less widely appreciated. This report – a collaboration between Nesta and Creative England – reveals hotspots of creative activity in all nations and regions of the UK, and produces data that economic development agencies and policymakers charged with promoting business growth can use when setting strategic priorities.

Specifically, the report presents the findings of a systematic mapping of the UK’s creative industries using Office for National Statistics data, combined with geographical analysis of data on the supply of university graduates and research and a novel ’big data’ analysis of social networking activity. As well as highlighting concentrations of creative activity, the report presents a rich account of the important differences that exist between creative clusters too.