Creative industries and the EU regional policy: A spatial analysis of using structural funds

Abstract

The creative industries are gaining recognition among countries of the EU, where the regional policy plays a key role in the economic development. However, the relationship between the EU Structural funds and the creative industries is limited specifically to culture, while the concept itself has not been assessed yet. The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of the Structural funds in the creative industries for the programming period 2007-2013. Regression unstandardized residuals were depicted by choropleth maps and multidimensional scaling for spatial analysis of the largest cities by population in the Czech Republic. The findings proved that dominant use of the Structural funds is in the culture sector, while the cultural and creative industries were not specifically supported. Moreover, particular differences were identified in spatial distribution of the creative industries. The results provide a methodological basis for evaluation and further research in conjunction with changing objectives and themes of support from the EU Structural funds in upcoming programming period. Particular focus is put on increasing the proportion of support towards the creative industries and awareness of policy-makers in reduction of spatial disparities in the use of public funds.