Multiple Endeavours Towards New Patterns of Economic Growth: The Case of Creative and Knowledge Industries in Spain

Abstract

Spain is one of the European countries that have been strongly hit by the 2008–2009 economic and financial crisis. During the expansion period (2000–2007), the strength of GDP growth stemmed from an important increase in the country’s real estate sector. However, this model proved to be highly unsustainable after 2007 when the rise in unemployment rates and the decrease in GDP growth contributed to one of the toughest economic periods in the country’s history. The need to foster alternatives to the existing economic structure has become evident in Spain, even more so in cities and regions, particularly those concentrating a high percentage of economic activity. Creative and knowledge sectors have been the target of many programmes and policies since the crisis, some focusing on existing traditions and pathways, others targeting completely new and emergent specialisations. This chapter will analyse the economic performance of four city-regions in Spain, namely, Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, and Valencia, in terms of the significance of creative and knowledge sectors for their economies. A fundamental question drives our research: To what extent are these new patterns of economic growth, based on creativity and knowledge, able to compensate for the economic downturn in terms of unemployment and economic development in Spain? In order to answer this, a three-axis model (actors, pathways, and policies) will underpin the analysis of creative- and knowledge-based examples in the four city-regions selected, considering three different categories: bottom-up, top-down, and bottom-linked. The chapter uses secondary data for aggregate economic indicators in addition to qualitative data such as interviews with relevant actors, including policy-makers and representatives of creative and knowledge company workers and managers in the four city-regions considered.