Conclusion

Abstract

The chapter summarises in a very concise way the most important conclusions following from the individual chapters, simultaneously including cross-referencing between them. The results of the research presented in the first part of the book confirm that the interplay between sectoral and spatial dynamics of creative industries is not merely a nice slogan. Several forms of such an interplay have been identified and analysed in the book:

• a) An interplay between the specialisation and diversification of creative cities and city regions

• b) An interplay between the global and the local

• c) An interplay between innovation dynamics, geographical proximity, and cluster performance

• d) An interplay between individual professionalisation and its dependence on institutions (cultural intermediaries) and social contexts

The second part of the book proves that geography still matters, i.e. contemporary Europe is a mosaic of different development pathways of creative industries. This divergence is particularly visible in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, where creative industries were one of the drivers of the post-socialist transformation (in both economic and non-economic dimensions). The presented national and regional studies of spatial dynamics of creative industries fill a significant cognitive gap and give this discourse a truly European, comparative perspective. They show that the role of creative industries in supporting new development dynamics is in many regions indirect, e.g. through their impact on innovation capacities.