Innovation and the Creative Industries Cluster: A Case Study of Singapore’s Creative Industries

To address the constraints of a comparatively small economy amidst globalisation challenges, Singapore embarked on diversification as strategy in the mid-eighties to develop clusters and ensure economic survival. This paper examines the development of the creative industries cluster of a city state that shifted its economic focus from manufacturing to innovation. Using Singapore as a case study, this paper will describe how the creative industries started in the city, discuss the policy areas critical to the development of the innovation system of this cluster, and propose an approach to how this cluster should be cultivated to create innovation for the country. It will present the challenges that are specific to Singapore and describe the limitations and potentials of the smaller nation’s innovation policy and innovation system.