Creative hubs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam

The aim of this research is to assess whether policy interventions regarding the creative industries in Amsterdam and Rotterdam attain the desired effect; facilitating favorable conditions for the creative industries at large, in the city. The focus will be on one such intervention; the facilitation of creative hubs. Due to their suggested nature of being hotspots for innovation, offering relatively cheap working spaces and enabling talented creatives to develop their skills, creative hubs are ideal locations for the creatives to flock to and the creative industries to flourish. Looking at the types of businesses present in the selected creative hubs we can assess if the policy aims come into fruition in practice i.e.; they will harbor a broad selection of different sectors of the creative industries. In order to do so a way of dividing businesses into specific sectors of the creative industries has been developed using literature on defining the creative industries. Using a framework of traits specific to the different subsectors within the creative industries, data is collected with which the firms can be divided into subcategories and show if this broad selection is present in the selected creative hubs. Provided with this overview it becomes possible to assess this policy intervention and discuss the outcomes, future interventions and possible steps to be undertaken to align theory and practice.