Are capitals the leading cultural and creative cities in Europe?

The cultural and creative sectors are one of the most dynamic branches of the EU economy, fostering innovation, growth and job creation as well as social cohesion. But which cities do perform best in culture and creativity? Does the population size determine their performance? Can small and medium-sized cities be as cultural and creative as capital cities? The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor - a new tool developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission to monitor and assess the performance of 168 'Cultural and Creative Cities' in Europe vis-à-vis their peers based on a set of 29 carefully selected indicators - tries to fill into this information gap. The first edition of the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor, officially released in July 2017, essentially shows a 'multi-centric' map of Europe with culture and creativity to be found across many and diverse cities.