Mapping Brazil - Creative Industries: Creative Cities

Creative and conventional industry
In Brazil, although there are already many new industries, there is still a great opportunity to add value from creative work for conventional industries. Numbers show creative entrepreneurs active in almost every sector of the economy, but still largely restricted to the more technologically advanced professions. Data from Creative-Industry Mapping for 2014 showed that one in five creative professionals are employed in conventional industry. This means that 221,000 (24.7%) of Brazil's 893,000 creative professionals are working in manufacturing industry, accounting for 2.8% of its workforce, against 1.8 % of employment in general.

However, one-third of the 13 creative segments' workers are engaged in R&D. They are developers and designers of technology-related materials, products, processes and methods. Fashion designers in the textile and clothing industry account for the second largest share: approximately 42,000 in manufacturing industry were working in fashion. Graphic and product design accounts for nearly a fifth (17.1%) of creative professionals in manufacturing industry. Finally, there were Advertising and Marketing professionals with 11.7%.

Industry joined with creativity
Although the numbers show quite a substantial number of creative professionals in manufacturing industry, there is not yet a consolidated perception of creative industry as adding value by designing differentiated products and services of high symbolic value to meet consumer needs that are increasingly based on desire, experience and emotion.

The FIRJAN System survey of Rio de Janeiro's furniture industry included a questionnaire about companies’ use of designers. Although revealing their appreciation of the designer’s role (68.5%), a majority of interviewees (73.6%) did not yet see the need to hire one for their own company. Of the companies that had not hired a designer, only 11.6% outsourced design work. More than half thought them either unnecessary (34.8%) or too expensive (20.5%). Given a highly competitive international scenario, this explains the furniture industry's low volume of exports. Another indicator tracked by FIRJAN proves the point: from 2003 to 2013, the furniture industry's export/output ratio (IFPE) dropped from 17.2% to 8.2% in a sector where a rate below 10% is considered very low. This diagnosis poses a fine opportunity for creative professionals to join forces with conventional industry. Brazil's short-term economic prospects are less favourable than the international economy's so it has to boost exports, but this aim is only feasible if local industry makes the right products for foreign consumers.

Culture vs economics
Brazil has yet to develop a strategic vision for creative economy on national level. This problem is reflected in development strategies and their division into two camps: cultural and creative industry. Unlike Europe and some Asian countries, where new cross-sectional programs have introduced a multidisciplinary character for creative-economy related projects, Brazil retains polarization between culture and industry, despite some major advances as regards government or public sector policies.

A very clear sign of this issue is that only culture departments of governments at different levels have looked at the creative economy. Brazil's Ministry of Culture and state or municipal culture departments work with segments the taxonomy of which is essentially cultural, such as the Visual Arts, Film, Performing Arts, or Music. In general, these segments are considered solely from a cultural-policy point of view. Indeed, this is reflected in the dearth of funding and financing available to the creative industry and in the implementation of government policies.

Other departments, such as those attached to the Ministry of Development and other development agencies or entities, host projects for sectors usually classified as providing services consumed by supply chains feeding into Fashion, Design or Architecture.

Creative Cities
The advancement of digital technologies for communication and globalization networks have altered patterns of consumption and industrial production, which has eventually prompted a paradigm shift in the way Brazil's cities are organized. Some had to move on from one industrial structure to another that will give them competitive edge in the new economy. In this respect, Brazil's local application of Creative City concepts has led to major advances in terms of moving to develop cities' creative potential.

Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, is home to one of the most nation-wide important Creative City projects named Porto Digital. This project has become one of the pillars for the new focus on the digital creative economy and, in particular, two highly knowledge-intensive innovative fields of activity, namely software, games, multimedia, cine-video-animation, music, design and photography segments. The project was established as a 149-hectare urban park in the historic quarter of Recife and the Santo Amaro district, which has been recovered as new business ventures relocate and settle in the area. Floor spaces totalling around 50,000 m2 in several of the historic quarter's buildings have been restored and are now primed to develop productive activities.

Another important initiative is taking place in Rio de Janeiro. Its legacy as the former capital of Brazil included the tradition of being the centre for intellectual culture and art, especially audiovisuals, fashion, design and heritage. In 2012, Rio was the first city in the world to be listed as UNESCO cultural landscape. By initiative of its human heritage institute, Instituto Rio Patrimônio da Humanidade, a major urban transformation program is rehabilitating and enhancing the value of the city's intangible heritage as focal point for its municipal development project. The program includes the world largest ongoing urban restoration project, Porto Maravilha, and the Creative District developed for the port area, in which the creative economy has been playing a leading role. Rio de Janeiro is also part of the Flanders Creative Cities Network.

Two Brazilian cities are members of UNESCO Creative Cities Network. With its modern urban planning, Curitiba was one of the first cities to formulate urban transit issues and consistently interconnect its different axial routes, in addition to hosting Brazil's leading performing-arts festival. Florianópolis is known for its cuisine directly influenced by Portuguese and German heritage in the state. Florianopolis is also home to a major digital creative-industry complex. Also harnessing their cultural vocation to generate development opportunities in creative industries are Brazilian cities such as Paraty, which holds Latin America's largest literary festival, while Olinda and Ouro Preto are outstanding for their well-preserved historical heritage and many links joining them to the creative-economy supply chain. Several Brazilian cities are working hard to be recognized as creative cities. To this end, the city of São Paulo has honed its urban development plans and the implementation of the Sampa Criativa movement.

Continue reading Mapping Brazil - Creative Industries: Funding