This article seeks to forecast the short- and medium-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the cultural and creative ecosystems of the 81 cities in Spain with between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. Data on employment in nine sectors (per NACE Rev. 2) support the characterization of cultural ecosystems based on their dynamism, specialization, and propensity to form clusters (thanks to the co-location of certain sectors, meant to generate inter-sectoral spillovers and cross-sector synergies). The applied methodology consists of comparing these three attributes during and following the 2008 financial crisis. Then, any changes observed are interpreted in light of arguments from the COVID-19 literature, and from our own analysis, in order to assess the probability of recurrence (or nonrecurrence) during the current pandemic. Throughout this process, the metropolitan or non-metropolitan position of cities is taken into consideration. A first conclusion is that, as in the financial crisis, the behavior of ecosystems during the pandemic will be asymmetric. Secondly, metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities will maintain their distinctive sectoral specializations. Non-metropolitan cities appear to be more vulnerable for their strong connection to creative sectors most affected by the pandemic, although some can take advantage of good cultural supply and proximity to metropolitan centers. Metropolitan cities seem more secure, thanks to the higher presence of less vulnerable sectors (due to elevated and accelerating digitization). Nevertheless, most functional clusters were diminished during the financial crisis, and it seems unlikely that sectoral co-locations will re-emerge in a post-pandemic scenario as a business strategy, at least in the short term. Beyond these forecasts, we recommend dealing with certain structural failures of these ecosystems, especially the vulnerability and precariousness of most cultural and creative companies and workers.

This work uses tools recently designed to conduct analyses and proposals around the cultural development of medium-sized cities. The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor model, or CCCM, is first applied to the 81 cities in Spain with between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. We also refer to the UNESCO Culture/2030 Indicators, specifically indicator 8 (Cultural companies), to investigate whether cultural dynamism is related to business vitality in those cities. Our observation of the 29 CCCM indicators and the C3 index, which synthesizes cultural performance, is explained, and these data are complemented with cultural business data (on assets, benefits, and jobs) from a sample of 13,204 firms. The C3 index values reveal significant differences in the cultural and creative performance of the selected cities according to their location (metropolitan or non-metropolitan) and their administrative rank. Moreover, when comparing the C3 index with the indicators on business activity, evidence indicates a clear positive relationship between cultural dynamism and firm vitality. These results support the contribution of culture to the sustainable development of medium-sized Spanish cities and further establish the suitability of the tools used to assist cities in designing appropriate cultural policies.

Una aproximación territorial y local al funcionamiento de la economía de la cultura en ciudades medias y pequeñas: estudio de caso de las ciudades españolas de Mérida y Cuenca El principal objetivo de la investigación es analizar el peso que algunos factores del territorio y la sociedad urbana, como la cercanía, el patrimonio, la imagen o las infraestructuras, tienen en el desarrollo y funcionamiento de los clusters culturales en las ciudades medias y pequeñas. A este fin se ha realizado una aproximación territorial a escala local con una combinación de métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos que se han aplicado a las ciudades españolas de Mérida y Cuenca, elegidas como estudio de caso. Los resultados demuestran que muchos de los parámetros frecuentemente considerados en la bibliografía internacional, y que forman parte de la idiosincrasia de las ciudades medias y pequeñas (cercanía, posibilidad de establecer contactos cara a cara, calidad de vida, bajos costes de producción), son considerados por los entrevistados como indispensables para entender el funcionamiento de sus organizaciones, así como del conjunto de cluster económico cultural urbano. De manera general, estos parámetros aparecen en la bibliografía internacional como coadyuvantes al desarrollo de la economía de la cultural, pero su importancia en las ciudades medias y pequeñas había sido testada en muy pocas ocasiones.