Spatial Perspective of Creative Industries in Slovakia

Concepts of creative industries and their potential in facilitating urban and regional development are frequently discussed topics in both academic and public policy domain. Paper analyses and presents several spatial dimensions of individual creative industries in Slovak Republic, focusing on their tendencies to concentrate and form clusters on different levels of spatial units as well as inter-industry colocalization. Methodology is based on the combination of traditional (location quotient, Gini coefficient) and newer (Moran's I, LISA - Local indicators of spatial association) methods of spatial analysis. To minimize bias resulting from aggregation of information (considering we conceptualize space as discrete in the paper), nodal regions defined on the basis of interconnections and relationships between municipalities were chosen as opposed to statistical units. Proxy variable number of entities according to NACE 4-digit classification was used since data on employment are not available on the given level. Results showed a significant tendency of creative entities to concentrate in certain regions and establish clusters, predominantly in highly urbanized regions, where they benefit from agglomeration effects. Results also indicate significant propensity among certain creative industries towards colocalization, which may result not only from similar localization factors of respective industries, but also from inter-sectoral spill-over processes.