Not So Cool Britannia

Abstract

This article provides a brief overview of current UK policy and practice in the area of the creative industries and economic development and aims to raise concerns about what I see as the problems arising in the implementation of these policies. It argues that the desire to use ‘creative industries’ as a single weapon with which to turn around economically depressed regions risks creating polarized and unsustainable economic development. Creative industries developments, if they are to succeed, cannot be disconnected from the cultural policies that nurtured them and the social policies that can help to sustain them.