Although creative industries have been popular as a research topic among social scientists from various backgrounds, most studies lack an explicit evolutionary, history-informed perspective. In this paper, we critically explore whether the notions of evolutionary economic geography can contribute to analyzing and explaining the spatial dynamics of creative industries, which has not been done yet in a systematic way. Although not all evolutionary concepts are useful, we conclude that co-evolution in particular has important potential in helping to explain the spatial dynamics of creative industries in a comparative perspective.

Can the concept of co-evolution help to analyse and explain the dynamics of creative industries? This article tackles the question by investigating the film and TV cluster in Seoul, South Korea. The analysis of the 35 semi-structured interviews confirms the dynamics of the film and TV industries in Korea. First, Hallyu began with the export of Korean TV drama series across East Asia. The state deregulation and neo-liberal reforms during the 1990s in Korea boosted an explosion of the export of the Korean film and TV industry. Second, the core of the film and TV production is concentrated within Seoul, while dispersion of those industries occurred in Gyeong-gi province. Third, from an institutional perspective, tensions between the central government and the film and TV industry can be observed, which have been intensifying since 2006. This paper concludes that particularly co-evolution could potentially be an important concept to explain and analyse dynamics in creative industries.

While the local buzz and global pipeline approach has provided a useful platform for understanding knowledge creation and diffusion in the creative industries, little attention has been paid to the complex dynamics of knowledge flows through time and space. This article examines how the dynamics of local buzz and global pipelines supported Hallyu (translated into English as the 'Korean Wave', which refers to the increased popularity of South Korean cultural goods outside of Korea) by analysing the Korean film and TV industry. It is argued that changes in extra-local knowledge linkages offer opportunities for the expansion of the industry, both in domestic and international markets. The main findings indicate that not only did the dynamics of local buzz and global pipelines reconfigure Hallyu but also public support policies, private sector's exertion and increased demand in the global market promoted Hallyu.

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