THE ROLE OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN RAISING URBAN COMPETITIVENESS. UNESCO NETWORK OF CREATIVE CITIES-SUCCESSFUL MODELS FOR ROMANIA

In recent years, the urban management practice has shown that the concept of "creative industry" has started to be extensively applied, being favoured by the good results of the socio-economic development of urban areas. Creative industries aim cultural products that enter the economic circuit, produce value, generate public revenues through fees and taxes, create jobs and income and help the regional and national development. In this context, UNESCO has created the "Creative Cities Network" which aims at facilitating the emergence of cultural groups through the exchange of know-how, experience and best practices as a means of promoting the development of local economy and social development through creative industries. This paper synthesizes the most relevant conceptual approaches in this area, presents a series of successful experiences in urban development taking as a model the UNESCO Creative Cities (Berlin, Glasgow, Lyon), creates a ranking of Romanian cities using the creative industries index and analyses how these cities could find new sources of growth of urban competitiveness.