Creative clusters and city growth

Abstract

Inspired by US management guru Michael Porter (1995) the City Growth Strategy initiative is promoting business clusters as a means of encouraging the regeneration of deprived inner city areas in the UK. This paper draws on an ongoing evaluation of one of the initial pilots for this initiative — the City Fringe area of London where six creative clusters are being targeted as a means of stimulating local economic development and social inclusion. Drawing on baseline research with the jewellery cluster the paper explores the degree to which this cluster gains competitive advantage from its inner city location and the extent to which it is able to contribute to the regeneration of the local area. It thus provides a critique of Porter's theory and contributes to our understanding of the extent to which creative clusters can act as a tool for inner city regeneration.