Which scale matters? Rethinking cultural industry development policies from a city network perspective

ABSTRACT

Current policy interventions in cultural industries tend to be highly localized and dominated by a cluster agenda. This article provides a critical evaluation of cultural industry development policies from a city network perspective based on the case of China. Drawing on quantitative data sources, we first conduct a systematic investigation into the geographical distribution of 252 publicly listed cultural firms within mainland China as well as the organization of their city-based buyer–supplier relationships across multiple spatial scales. Based on this empirical work, we then discuss whether cultural industry clusters could be a viable policy instrument for different cities and which spatial scale(s) should be taken into consideration while implementing cultural industry development programs. Our study generates a more comprehensive understanding of the functioning of local clusters and translocal networks in the operation of cultural industry firms and provides some implications for the formulation of urban cultural policies and planning schemes.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the three anonymous referees and the editor of this journal for their constructive comments. All claims and omissions remain the authors’ responsibility.

Notes

1. In the policy domain, the use of the cultural/creative cluster concept is often intertwined with other similar concepts, such as creative city (Landry, 2000) and creative class (Florida, 2002).

2. The NEEQ is a Chinese over-the-counter system for trading shares of public limited companies that are not listed in the two stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai. With lower entry costs and simpler listing procedures, the NEEQ mainly serves as an easy financing channel for innovative and growing micro- to medium-sized enterprises.

3. These two websites are CNFOL (http://www.cnfol.com/) and EastMoney (http://www.eastmoney.com/).

4. Some firms have less than five (even zero) buyers or suppliers in the reporting year.

5. The four municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing) are not included.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (GrantNo. 41601163).

Notes on contributors

Xu Zhang

Xu Zhang is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography and Urban Planning at Wuhan University of Technology. He is an urban geographer interested in urban networks, urban spaces, and cultural economies. His current research has mainly focused on the spatial development consequences of cultural and creative economic activities in the Chinese context, especially their impacts on the restructuring of urban systems and networks in the country.

Kunlun Chen

Kunlun Chen is a Professor of Interdisciplinary Sports and Urban Geography at China University of Geosciences. His research interests mainly include sports activities, sports culture industries, the urban built environment, and healthy cities. His current research seeks to understand what roles sports can play in the process of urban development and urban planning and how to improve residents’ health conditions through sports infrastructure provision and organization f sports activities/events.