The “universal” characteristics of creative industries revisited: The case of Riga

- Creative industries research and policies hold assumptions about their nature.
- These are often neither questioned nor empirically investigated.
- Place-specificity should apply not only to development conditions but also to creative industries properties.
- Creative firms in Riga display only part of the characteristics commonly assumed.
- The rejected characteristics are mostly the ones, which are linked to their importance for economic growth.

“Creative industries” has emerged as a universal research and policy concept exploited for the advocacy of economic development of cities, regions and countries. Existent literature implies assumptions characterising the nature of the set of activities that constitute creative industries. While studies have shown the place-specificity of the conditions relative to the development of these industries, there is little acknowledgment of the potential place-specificity of their characteristics. This article combines statistical data with the results of a survey of creative firms in Riga (Latvia) to explore the extent to which the common assumptions about the features of creative industries expressed in the literature correspond to reality in less economically developed urban settings. The results show that creative industries in Riga display only some of the assumed characteristics, while assumptions such as high levels of innovation and growth used to advocate their importance could not be confirmed.