The analysis of proximity in the creative sector

Abstract

As creative industries are one of the key factors driving the development of economies worldwide, a growing number of studies try to capture their relevance, attributes, and global role. Globalisation tendencies affect the creative sector too, which arises the questions: ‘Does geographical proximity matter in this sector?’ and ‘What is its role in the functioning, relationship-building and information transfer processes of creative actors?’ In this study, first the changes in the meaning of the term ‘proximity’ are explained and summarised then the definition, categorization and attributes of creative industries are presented. Previous papers have proved that the scope of activities of an enterprise and its size have a significant impact on the importance of spatial closeness. The author’s empirical research has similar findings regarding the creative actors: market-based international partner relations constitute a majority and are considered relevant; spatially close relations are preferred and the total average importance index of geographical proximity is higher in the case of market-based partner relations than those with non-economic organisations. Although virtual platforms offer rapid and continuous connectivity between partners in the creative sector, the need for personal, face-to-face interactions is quite high, especially in the process for contracting with suppliers and clients.