Economics: Knowledge And Creative Economies In The City Of Birmingham (Case Study Sample)

Knowledge and Creative Economies By [Name] Course Professor’s Name Institution Location of Institution Date Knowledge and Creative Economies Birmingham City The city of Birmingham performed excellently well during post-war era but experienced continuous economic sabotage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This forced the city to shift from being a renowned manufacturing industry to a service economy and most of the former industrial assets had to been revised to a lucrative exciting art and nightlife venues which led to growth of creative economy. By late 1990s, the economy looked stable which led to positive impact on the wellbeing of the citizens with Gross Value Added ( GVA) gone past that of West Midland as a whole (Florida. R, 2002). Being a center and the regional capital for job creation and business incubations, it has increasingly experienced rapid healthy economic growth which has led to innovation of new industries in the field of graphic designs, movie arts, and to computer games. After London, Birmingham comes second as the largest city economy in United Kingdom. Locality of Birmingham city has made it to have superior advantage in creative industries compared to other cities. This is due to the fact that it is located at the center of motorway and rail network, and also its airport being the third busiest UK airport after London airport and South East (Office of National Statistics Report, 1998) The city’s geographical locality has led to its significant economic growth forcing the national government to flagship economic schemes, including the National Indoor Arena (NIA), the International Convention Centre (ICC), Symphony Hall, and Brindleyplace. The redevelopment of Bullring in 1999 and the supper Selfridges building which both appears on the Post Office stamp has continuously put the city’s profile on international limelight. Even though the economy of Birmingham city has been growing, there still remain a major economic obstacle that has led to poor transportation in the region i.e. it is the only largest European City without a metro system and according to Westland Joint Committee Report (2005), it has failed to connect people to their respective jobs within and outside the city. The idea of a geographical cluster that has led to Birmingham being a robust creative town is due to its vibrant, culture endowment, entrepreneurial and technological advantages. All these characteristics lead to unleashing of a latent creativity and passion amongst individuals that have incorporated business culture and technology into community planning leading to enhancement of idea-generating capacities (ERC Services Subcommittee Report, 2002: 17). According to OECD (2000), knowledge economy is defined as an expression coined to describe trends in advanced economies towards greater dependence on knowledge, information and high skill levels, and the increasing need for ready access to all of these by the business and public sectors. Major features of knowledge economy is linked with industrial firms and organizations that help to acquire special skills and this is evidently seen in Birmingham city where most developed industries partner with the surrounding tertiary institutions for skill and entrepreneurial incubation purposes. The interrelationship between knowledge based industry and company values may consist of intangible assets such as research and development. Since know and creative economy and interrelated, it is obvious then that they are both represented wholly by information and communication sectors known as technology, media and telecommunications. Knowledge economy at Birmingham city is supported through its three best established universities (Aston University, University of Birmingham and Birmingham University) which have already established research and development sectors within the city to tap the creative ideas and the local as a whole. In terms of research, the city is strongest in clinical and life sciences, as well as physics and mathematics. The city’s heritage within the automotive industry means it is well established within the advanced manufacturing sector, while its creative and digital offering is continuing to grow and attract new talent. To spread new ideas, creative industries have been found to be doing well both in production chain to its customers and the suppliers especially in design and advertising within and outside Birmingham city and other big cities like London (Miles, I. and Green, L. 2008) Policies that Supports Economic Developments of Birmingham City Due to limited resources within the cities, there are only three elements that define their economic growth which includes their own economic endowments, intermediaries within the economy, and the policies formulated and enacted by local and national government to help in economic developments (Musterd and Gritsai, 2013) .According to BOP consulting firm Report (2009), creative industries in the city of Birmingham boasts for over 3,400 businesses representing 10% of the whole city firms. But, a number of conditions for creating creative knowledge regions in a given economy are certainly dependent on a city’s history and its economy sequences diversifications in terms of specialization which is the gearing tap for economic growth (Mahoney, 2000; Lambooy, 2002; Musterd et al., 2007). Economic growth of Birmingham city in terms of creative and knowledge economy enhancement dependents on a number of policies which the national and local government has always put in place. This has helped to boast economic competitive advantages in the fields of professional services, business, creative and digital sectors which has already been identified as economic hubs of the city. Local and Regional Government Economic Policies Innovation and skills enhancement For a city to prosper, innovation and knowledge enhancement must be a key pillar in terms of its economic prosperity. The City of Birmingham is currently venturing in the innovative fields by employing the innovative- system approach which give room for showcasing one’s abilities through creation of incubation centers. According to Lundvall (1992), creation of Science Parks and incubation Centers should be a link between the universities around the cities and the surrounding communities. In Birmingham city, there are a lot of industrial parks that have been built including Birmingham Science Park at Aston. The local government of Birmingham has also introduced free spacing of land and premises that will continue to accommodate the increased creative sector expansion. The only challenge that the city government of Birmingham will have to look onto is on how to retain and attract the skilled graduates and workers in the field of creative industry. This can be achieved through offering subsidized products on the production of items such as video games, and also offering the right jobs to the artists who have prospered in the field of creativity. Cities need to grow as “knowledge economies” (Lambooy, 1990, Boekema et al., 2000) for it to outplay the increasing regional competitions and this applies to Birmingham city too. For Birmingham city to find its ways in the innovative and knowledge economies as being economically viable, both the national and the regional government as well as universities around must both come together and build research and development systems to help enhance entrepreneurship and creativity. Culture and economic diversity promotion Economic and cultural diversity has been the major tool in promoting creative economy in Birmingham city. Being a city where one-third of population is non-white by 2001, it is regarded as a city of an important Black and Minority Ethic (BME). This has positively led to growth of creative industries due to development of BME creative products and services which as local and international attention i.e. the introduction of Sikh Time newspaper for the Sikh community, music venue of drum, and New Style Radio for the Africans and the Caribbean communities (Burfitt et al., 2005). Growth of Birmingham city is founded within its cultural diversity which has always helped in the city economic growth through production, an enhanced knowledge and better access to entrepreneurial centers ( Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot, 2010) Infrastructural and connectivity development Local government of Birmingham and national government of United Kingdom have always partnered to develop the infrastructure of the city and the surrounding areas. Economically, a growth of a city is dependent on its superior infrastructural development. To link cultural, economic and creative as a unitary goal for the city of Birmingham, there have always been major venues to showcase the same including Symphony Hall, Town Hall, the Hippodrome Theatre, the Birmingham Rep Theatre, the National Indoor Arena and the Ikon Gallery which provides both national and international attraction for the renowned world artists has been some of the major developments in the city.The presence of “Jewellery Quarter” in the city of Birmingham has led the city to a number of infrastructural advancements since many jewellery companies have invested a lot within the city premises. Networking and collaboration in protection of patent rights Networking is a tool used by the creative and knowledge-pool individuals to minimize losses and spread risks since it is an important element through which creative works are passed on and can easily be commissioned and supervised by the government in terms of patent right protection. Since it helped to connect the local market to the international market pool of artists, it has always been used by the local government of Birmingham to reconnect creative industries locally and internationally. Supportive industries in the field of creativity and knowledge have increasingly developed some formal networking with and o...