Agglomeration of creative industries: An intra‐metropolitan analysis for Barcelona

The aim of this paper is to analyse the spatial patterns of agglomeration and coagglomeration of Creative Industries (CIs) in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB). We compare agglomeration patterns of CIs to non-creative ones (Non-CIs) in order to identify specificities in their location patterns at an intra-metropolitan level. We use firms’ geo-located data for 2012 to calculate the distance-based M and m cumulative and density functions of agglomeration and coagglomeration. Our main results show that CIs and Non-CIs have different agglomeration patterns. Concretely, whilst CIs tend to cluster at very small distances, Non-CIs have a more dispersed pattern. Concerning the results of coagglomeration, these reveal that micro CIs and Non-CIs seem to be coagglomerated. Regarding agglomeration patterns of subgroups of CIs, we find that these sectors display high levels of agglomeration individually, and that there is a clear coagglomeration among them in the MAB. Finally, our results emphasise Barcelona’s centre as a magnet for Cultural and CIs. Keywords: creative industries, agglomeration, M function, intra-metropolitan analysis, Barcelona