Territorial Dynamics in Europe: The Creative Workforce

186759-ESPON-TO5-WEB_Page_01November 2011 - The fifth volume of ESPON Territorial Observations focuses on Creative Workforce.

Regions with high concentrations of creative and cultural industries have Europe’s highest prosperity levels. Evidence suggests that jobs and growth follow these creative people as much as creative people follow jobs and growth, and attractive places.

Policy makers engaged with competitiveness and territorial cohesion at regional/local, national and/or European level should in particular take the following key territorial dynamics into consideration in further policy development:

  • Europe and the US score rather equal and hold currently the highest levels of the creative workforce. However, other major global players are seeking to catch up, enhancing the global competition in attracting members of the creative workforce.
  • Economically successful regions tend to have high levels of creative workers among their active population. There is a strong association between GDP per capita and levels of creative occupations.
  • Countries strongly increasing their creative workforces as a share of the total workforce are mostly in Eastern Europe.
  • Regional hotspots/concentrations of the creative workforce are mainly the capital and metropolitan regions located in Central and Northern Europe.
  • However, urbanised regions in general have not been the biggest winners over the period 2001- 2008. While they have experienced an average increase of 9.2% of the share of the creative workforce related to the total active population, predominantly rural regions experienced a much higher increase of 12.6%.
  • More peripheral regions appear to be enhancing their competitiveness with significant increases in their creative workforce.
  • The fact that some less economically strong regions are experiencing simultaneous growth in GDP and employment in the creative workforce, indicates that creative occupations can contribute to better territorial balance and cohesion.

ESPON Territorial Observation No. 5 on Territorial Dynamics in Europe - The Creative Workforce, including maps and figures, is available below.

Printed copies of “Territorial Observations” series are available.

Should you have questions please do not hesitate to contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at [email protected]

 

Documents