16 percent more sales in the Ruhr region
Sales increased by one billion euros between 2012 and 2019. That is a total increase of 16 percent. Every 14th company in the Ruhr region now resides in either the cultural or creative industries.
Upward trend in software and games industry
A look at the submarkets of the creative and cultural industries shows that growth does not affect all sectors equally:
- Decrease in operations in the art market
- Number of companies in the software and games industry is growing
The most significant submarkets in terms of the number of taxable establishments are as follows:
- Design industry
- Advertising market
- Software and games industry
The software and games industry also leads the field in terms of sales volumes. The top submarkets here include:
- Press and book market
- Software and games industry
Background of the study
The study "Cultural and Creative Industries in the Ruhr Area 2022: Status, Development Trends and Future-Oriented Proposals for Action" by the planning and consulting office STADTart refers to data from the sales tax statistics from the period 2012 to 2019 and the employment statistics from the period 2019 to June 2021.
Universities as an engine for creative industries
Bochum, Dortmund, and Essen are the drivers of the cultural and creative industries in the Ruhr Metropolis.
One driver of concentration is the strong university landscape in the Ruhr region. And this is represented in Bochum, Dortmund and Essen with strong creative competencies: the Fachhochschule Dortmund with its renowned design department and the TU Dortmund with its music journalism course, the RuhrUniversität Bochum with its broad-based theater studies course and theFolkwang University of Arts with one location in Bochum (Institute for Pop Music) and two locations in Essen.
Start-ups from the software and games sector are also often spin-offs in the environment of educational institutions or universities.
Ruhr region promotes cross-innovation
Networking companies from the cultural and creative industries with other sectors is what the Business Metropole Ruhr promotes, for more cross innovations. At the "World Café", participants discussed perspectives and impulses for the industry. The three best-practice regions Greater Manchester, Linz-Upper Austria and Rhine-Neckar were inspiring. Representatives from the regions presented their lighthouse projects via video. The industry is moving:
- Co-Governance
- Networking in the creative industries
The aim is to further network the growing creative industries in the Metropole Ruhr in the future and to join forces to encourage closer cooperation in order to better exploit the potential for cross innovation.
Do you have questions about the creative industries in the Ruhr region?
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Image credit: Brooke Cagle