Building on Lisa De Propris’s influential work on creative industries, industrial clusters and place-based development, this paper critically examines creative clustering policy in the UK amid growing spatial inequalities. We argue that while agglomeration provides an important foundation for creative clustering, its benefits depend on place-specific institutional, relational and industrial conditions.

Extending De Propris’s emphasis on the territorial embeddedness of industrial and creative development, the paper shows that current policy remains uneven in how creative clustering is identified, supported and connected across regions. We propose an integrated three-pillar conceptual framework centred on differentiated intervention and evaluation, institutional capacity through vertical and horizontal coordination, and inter-regional connectivity through creative corridor governance.

In doing so, the paper extends De Propris’s contributions by translating the place-based understanding of creative industries into a policy framework for creative clustering, reframing it from an end-state centred on scale and concentration towards a flexible instrument of place-based industrial strategy.

Josh is Associate Professor of Management at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) within the University of Sussex Business School. His research examines the links between entrepreneurship, skills and innovation, with a particular focus on the economic role of the creative industries and creative skills. He is also Research Lead for Creative Clusters, R&D and Innovation, and Access to Finance at the AHRC Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC).

He has authored more than a dozen policy reports, including the influential Creative Radar: Exploring the UK's Creative Microclusters, which has informed major UK government publications, such as the Creative Industries Sector Plan (2025), Creative Industries Sector Vision (2023) and the Levelling Up White Paper (2022).

He has led research projects worth more than £2.4 million and undertaken commissioned studies for organisations including the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Nesta, the National Physical Laboratory, the British Venture Capital Association and the European Commission. His research appears in leading academic journals and he is a sought-after public speaker.