Creative Industrial Cluster: Three Stage Development and the Case of Beijing’s 798 Art District*

Yang Yongzhong1, 2, Huang Shuyi 3 and Lin Minghua 1
1 Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
2 School of Econmics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
3 Management School, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China

 
Abstract: This paper presents a three-stage hypothesis on the development of creative industrial clusters, which includes stages of agglomeration, interfacing, and network development. In the first stage, micro-entities concentrate geographically in a creative industrial cluster in search of resources. The second stage reflects the need for building identity. Finally, the third stage is the outcome of multi-dimensional expansion. As a creative industrial cluster develops, its focus moves from geographic concentration to division of labor and the creation of novel systems. Using this three-stage framework, this paper conducts an empirical study on Beijing’s 798 District ( “798”). Our study finds that the “self-destruction” phenomenon (which appeared after 798 had reached the stage of network development in a low-level capacity) is essentially the product of a squeezing effect of commercial prosperity on art production. Our study further examines four models of art-commerce integration and explains the ways in which creative industrial clusters are different from conventional industrial clusters: a creative cluster is a platform of integration for culture, commerce, and technology. Its course of development is characterized by novelty, emergence of identity through interfacing, and network cooperation.
Key words: creative industrial cluster, path of emergence, development mechanism,integration with culture, commerce and technology

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