Contributing To The Creative Economy Through Cultural Industries Analysis

2.6 Contributing to the creative economy through cultural industries
Another point of view how culture can contribute to the promotion of socio-economic growth, and why support in this context should be maximized, is how culture can contribute to the creative economy sector by capitalizing the intangible cultural assets. Immaterial cultural resources such as crafts, local cuisines, woven textiles or traditional patterns, hold immense potentials that can be harnessed into cultural industries with the support of a proper business model. Artistic reproductions of crafts, creative modifications of traditional dishes, innovative fashion design tailored from woven textiles and adaptive use of traditional patterns are just some examples how these community cultural assets can be turned into a robust revenue generator.
A report by UNESCO indicated that creative industries rooted in culture represent one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the global economy with a growth rate of 17.6% in the Middle East, 13.9% in Africa, 11.9% in South America, 9.7% in Asia, 6.9% in Oceania, and 4.3% in North and Central
This reality presents substantial challenges for government officials, urban planners, economic developers, cultural sustainability specialists and anthropologists alike. However, unlocking the cultural potentials of a city and turning them into cultural industries may support the new economic development paradigm that aims to maximize knowledge capitalization and reduce dependency on extractive industries. On this note, governments’ endeavors to revitalize a city by harnessing its cultural assets must receive support, whether in financial, technical or managerial forms, from the business community, academics and other relevant