Global connectedness, local embeddedness and creative economies in European cities

Embracing the global–local debate, this study examines how cities configure their global connectedness and local embeddedness attributes in order to achieve the high performance of urban creative economies in Europe. Using the configurational approach, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is undertaken to investigate urban creative economy performance in a sample of 168 European cities from 30 countries during the period 2000–17. The findings reveal a taxonomy of four distinct types of cities with the high performance of the creative economy and the contingent effects of cultural vibrancy and industrial diversity. This study provides novel insights into the variations among creative cities.