Creative Clusters as a City Branding Tool

Over the past thirty years creative clusters have become an integral part of the city, without which it is already difficult to imagine urban space. However, the role of creative clusters as branding tools has not yet been revealed. The purpose of this study was to analyze what characteristics and their combinations of creative clusters differentiate creative clusters that have become brands of a city from those that have not. To determine the status of the city brand, the presence of its own page of the creative cluster on the DMO websites of cities and regions was used. The study is based on analyzing various cluster characteristics such as audience size and engagement on social media, number of events per year, number of residents and so on. To assess the difference in the characteristics of brand clusters and non-brand clusters, Mann-Whitney U test was used, which showed that clusters that have become a brand of the city have a longer period of activity, a larger number of events and residents, and a larger audience size. To assess the combinations and core conditions that contribute to a cluster becoming a brand, fsQCA analysis was used indicating the significance of the combination of a large number of residents, an industrial building, active audience engagement and the use of a text logo for a cluster becoming a city brand. The results of this study are unique and useful for anyone interested in creative spaces becoming a city brand.