The cities of Óbidos (Literature, 2015), Idanha-a-Nova (Music, 2015), Amarante (Music, 2017), Barcelos (Crafts and Popular Arts, 2017), Braga (Digital Arts, 2017), Leiria (Music, 2019), 2019) and Caldas da Rainha (Artesanato e Artes Populares, XNUMX) have a common trait: they were named creative cities by the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities, after a careful evaluation of the distinctive signs in the respective areas subject to application.
As an example, Idanha-a-Nova presents ancient music as a structural element of its annual and multi-annual programming lines since 2001 and includes several traditional music groups, the Idanha philharmonic, the professional ensemble “Iberian concert baroque orchestra”, the international ancient music courses, the holy week festivities, the annual Fora do Lugar festival and the Boom Festival.
In turn, Óbidos has converted its noblest spaces into artistic and cultural spaces: a network of bookstores, exhibition galleries, artistic and literary residences, concert halls and conferences. The program has its highest point at the Folio International Literary Festival.
The rising curve of the creative economy
In the last twenty years we have witnessed an ascending curve in the creative economy in its most general sense, in a movement marked by creativity and innovation and, more specifically, by the emergence of digital technologies and arts in the cultural and creative industries.
The creative economy is a kind of "countercurrent movement" that goes against the grain in the face of the massification and commoditization movement of the world economy, but this does not mean that it does not take all the advantages of belonging to this world economy and of being an open window to the world.
The creative economy has its own genealogy that has been consolidated over the last quarter of a century: cultural and creative industries, creative classes, creative cities, ecosystems and clusters creative, value chains and creative business models, public policies for the creative economy. Conceptually, creativity is a very elastic concept that extends from arts and culture in the most conventional sense to scientific, technical and business innovation, in the broadest sense.
But this dual or dualistic vision is also increasingly outdated, that is, in the world economy all activities will have to be creative and innovative or they will not be.
This is why investments made in the “creative base” are fundamental: the digital infrastructure of territories, the digital transformation of companies, digital literacy and citizenship, education through arts and culture, protection of intellectual property , public markets for arts and culture, public policies to encourage the creation of ecosystems and clusters creative, finally, creativity as the central and transversal core of development policy in its broadest sense.
Creative cities or creativity are the central place of this environment and creative spirit, they create collaborative spaces, invest in the agglomeration and clustering of creative activities, seek to attract classes and creative professionals, design incubators to host startups technological, bet on Branding branding and urban marketing; nevertheless, the absolutely necessary connection between the traditional regional business centers and the new collaborative spaces where this creativity must converge is not yet evident.
I believe that the next phase of the creative economy will be precisely this convergence between research centers, incubation and acceleration spaces and business centers and associations, in search of new value chains, new cultural and creative markets and new business models and management of the creative economy.
Despite all the rhetoric surrounding the idea of creativity, the economy is no longer what it used to be, to the point where capitalism has used all its arguments to launch “cognitive capitalism”, a 3C economy, made of knowledge, culture and creativity. And you are right, the creative economy is the economic model of our times. After the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, now is the time for the digital revolution.
Digital technologies have driven globalization to unprecedented levels. Products and services circulate on a planetary scale and at an unimaginable speed, their life cycles are increasingly shorter and more similar to the process of commoditization of the economy.
This is a great opportunity for the creative economy, in all its dimensions, including the products of the local and regional economy. Differentiating a product or service through creativity opens a window to the world for that product.
The upward curve of the creative economy will continue with the internet of objects and artificial intelligence, and in the coming years the two most coveted job profiles will be creative talent and social intelligence. They will form the broth of our creative cities in the near future.
Final Notes
First of all, we must be on the lookout for “cheap” political rhetoric around creativity and innovation, as if they were homemade remedies for all ills. And they aren't.
Secondly, and given the scarcity of resources, we must be aware of cultural and creative industries that are pure public expenditure and those that are capable of reacting to financial incentives; there is an opportunity cost here that must be taken into account.
Thirdly, we must be aware of the urgent need to converge the knowledge economy (research centres), the economics of culture (cultural centres, associations and companies) and the creative economy (collaborative spaces, hubs creatives, incubators, startups); there is a specific logistics for this convergence that is essential to seek and implement.
Fourth, in the creative economy, industry and services increasingly merge. Creative industries are not only economically valuable in themselves, but also as providers of intangibles to other economic activities that, in this way, increase their participation in value chains. This connection or transfer is central to a country's wealth and is even one of its brand images.
Fifth, cities and creative spaces need a lot of collective territorial intelligence to avoid encystment, segregation or gentrification; the creativity policy is very sensitive to distinctive signs and must be conducted transversally in close articulation with urban and community policy, cultural tourism and the attraction of creative workers, otherwise it will lead to more polarizations and social discrimination and promote the exclusion of small local creative ventures.
Sixthly, the creative economy as a development strategy should seriously consider considering network territories, city networks or city-regions as nuclear instruments of territorial development, with a view to a full integration of social, cultural and environmental objectives. and economic, on a scale that optimizes all its scarce resources.
Finally, and in this case, the Municipalities of the Portuguese Network of UNESCO Creative Cities, in order to strengthen cooperation among themselves at the national level, establish an action plan for the next two years that includes:
– The holding of the Creative Cities Conference, in October 2020, in Idanha-a-Nova;
– The creation of a Joint Event to celebrate creativity;
– The creation of a Joint Project where creativity and culture are the engine of social integration;
– The creation of Artistic Residencies among Portuguese cities;
– The creation of an Artists Opportunity Scholarship;
– Contribution to the Structuring of Creative Tourism in Portugal;
– The creation of a Joint Communication Strategy for the different cities;
– The creation of Partnerships or Projects in the context of creative cities involving Universities, Polytechnics and other entities and/or people linked to research.
As noted, we are still very close to cultural activities in the strict sense. The external agglomeration effects of these measures are very small and this should not surprise us.
In all cases, public policy for the creative economy should consider: human capital and creative talent, innovation and protection of intellectual property, technologies and digital arts, Branding and brand image, urban and territorial marketing.
Therefore, our insistence on the networks of cities and on the triangulation of activities through cooperation between research centers, business centers and cultural and artistic associations. If we manage to increase the network-intensity of these triangular relationships, we will be much closer to a true agglomeration economy.
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