This paper compares the total impact of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) on per capita income of countries, regions and municipalities. We estimate the total effects of CCIs in 78 developed and developing countries in 5 continents, in 275 European regions and in 518 municipalities in the European region of Valencia, using data obtained from multiple databases and nonparametric local linear least squares. The average effects of CCIs are positive in the three territorial scales, in both low- and high-income locations, and increase in conjunction with increases in development, with high and very high developed places showing greater impacts. CCIs are, thus, a powerful resource for improving the well-being of rich and poor places at all geographic scales; however, they also act as a double-edged sword, as they increase inequalities between places.

This article defines "cultural experience" and places it in a holistic conceptual model; “the cultural city” where it plays a relevant role in improving the performing of cities. The conceptual model combines the basic elements of the heritage city, the smart city and the creative city. The city is interpreted from a threefold perspective; as a repository of resources, as a connective interface, and as the setting for citizens' life and social and professional experiences. In this context, each of these perspectives incorporates culture in a different way, enabling different models of value creation and different processes of production and reproduction of this value. In each of the urban models described above, production processes that combine symbolic, physical, financial, social, human and cultural capital in different ways and urban strategies are implemented to provide cultural experiences that ignite transformative effects through several spillovers. That means that culture, in its different dimensions, regains the role of a raw material and becomes the point of origin to activate development processes and improve urban performance. The integration of the dimensions of the heritage city, the creative city and the smart city through an enabling context is the core proposal of the “cultural city”. In alignment with the New European Agenda for Culture, we deepen the analysis in the specific spillovers on wellbeing and quality of life, citizen engagement and urban renewal as the backbone of a set of external effects of cultural experiences. In the final part of this article, we test the plausibility of this speculative proposal through some empirical evidence. We develop an OLS model with proxy indicators, that could be considered transitional indicators, for the three different potential strategies (heritage, smart, creative). The findings support the assertion that it is conceivable that the supply of cultural experiences through a variety of tactics (heritage city, smart city and creative city) can account in part for the growth of European cities in the years after the 2008 financial crisis. These strategies have contributed to the good performance of the urban device in a way that is positive, not negligible (accounting for around 50% of the variance in productivity) and statistically significant. The provision of a context that increases the cultural experiences for citizens has clearly improved the performance of European cities, and we develop some conceptual and empirical mechanisms to explain and measure the socioeconomic impacts of these processes.

This article analyzes whether expenditure on the provision of merit goods, culture, health, education, and sports, by local governments, in medium-sized cities (between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants) is tied to the electoral cycle; that is, whether expenditure increases in the run up to an electoral process. Further, we analyze whether the increase in spending on Culture by local governments has any significant effect on the probability of local governments being re-elected. To answer these questions, a database of 350 medium-sized municipalities is used comprising the period 2011 to 2019, when two municipal elections were held in Spain; in 2015 and in 2019. The results confirm that both total spending and spending on culture and sports, are tied to the electoral cycle, while expenditure on other merit goods is not. Moreover, using a logit model, it is confirmed that an increase in culture expenditure has a significant effect on the probability of the government being re-elected. Specifically, a one-third increase in cultural expenditure, as a proportion of total expenditure (e.g., passing from 6% to 8%) at local government level, improves re-election chances by almost 10%.

The existence of a Mediterranean way of creativity and its effects on regional performance has been discussed in European development strategies. However, there is little evidence supporting that idea. This paper addresses this issue by using data on creative industries for a sample of 276 European regions and the Local Linear Least Squares estimator, able to deal with parameter heterogeneity. The results suggest that creative industries increase labor productivity. Nevertheless, the paper contributes by providing, for the first time, evidence that the average impact of the creative industries for Mediterranean regions is not substantially different from that for the rest of European regions. However, other territorial patterns emerge, showing the heterogeneity of the impacts of creative industries, which can be even negative in some regions. This evidence has implications for regional, economic and cultural policies.