Creative Cardiff

Mappings are a way to learn more about creative hubs and their ecosystem: where they are located, what their communities look like, what kind of impact hubs bring and what are their challenges and opportunities.

This report charts creative hubs across Wales, looking first at geographical location and concentration. It details profiles of creative hubs in terms of business model, services, number of members and audience engagement.

The mapping also analyses the types of impact creative hubs have and how they align with the global Sustainable Development Goals.

The research team also zooms in on the challenges and opportunities facing hubs, generally and in the context of their locality. It also provides 5 case studies of different hubs across Wales.

About

This research exercise was commissioned by the British Council in early 2022 with the aim to complete a collection of creative hubs mappings across the UK’s four nations. The researchers started the work in March 2022, identifying more than 140 creative hubs in Wales.

Dr Mate Miklos Fodor is an Associate Professor of Economics at the New School of Economics at Satbayev University in Almaty and a Research Associate at Clwstwr. Mate performs econometric and statistical analyses to evaluate key policy areas of the creative economy in Cardiff and beyond. Mate’s research interests reside in labour and development economics and he teaches a wide range of subjects at the New School of Economics, including econometrics and labour economics.

Prof Dr Marlen Komorowski performs the impact analysis of Clwstwr’s interventions in the screen sector (and creative industries more generally) in South Wales. She is also associated with the research centre imec-SMIT-VUB (Studies on Media, Innovation & Technology) in Brussels and Guest Professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. As a researcher, her work focuses on media and creative industries related projects, impact analysis, industry clustering, ecosystem and value network analysis, new business models and the impact of the digitisation and innovation on industries and firms.

Creative Cardiff is a network that brings together creative professionals and organisations across the city and beyond. Based in Cardiff University, Creative Cardiff carries out research to further the knowledge base of the creative economy in South Wales and to champion the value of creativity, report developments and inform policy.