Major Dutch cities are becoming less attractive for the creative industry: report

The major cities in the Netherlands are becoming less attractive for the creative industries, such as the arts, cultural heritage, media, entertainment and creative business services. This is the conclusion of the latest report by the network organization Media Perspectives.

Big cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam still have the most jobs in this sector. But the pace of employment growth is slowing down there. In other parts of the country, growth in the creative industry has actually increased in recent years.

Amsterdam, for example, accounts for 22% of the total job growth in the creative sector between 2012 and 2022. However, looking at the last few years, i.e. from 2019 to 2022, the capital only accounts for 11% of the growth. This is despite the fact that the average national growth rate for jobs in this sector in the latter period was even higher than for the entire decade examined.

According to the report, the creative industry alone accounted for 390,000 jobs in 2022. In general, job growth in the creative sector is mainly due to creative business services, with design being a significant sub-sector.

"It seems that the traditional advantages of large cities for the creative industries are now partly turning into disadvantages for entrepreneurs in this sector," the researchers state. Among other things, they point to the lack of affordable housing in major cities and the lack of suitable premises for businesses.

According to the Media Perspectives report, the creative sector in the Netherlands has now recovered well from the heavy blows it took during the coronavirus crisis. The researchers also note that the number of self-employed people continues to grow. In 2022, almost 52 percent of the total of 390,000 jobs in the creative industry were filled by self-employed people.