The concept of creative new industrialization in the spatial socioeconomic development of single-industry towns in the Urals and Siberia

Relevance. The process of new industrialization extends beyond traditional industrial sectors to include areas such as the creative industries. Since 2021, there has been a growing interest in creative activities, supported by legislative measures and strategic frameworks aimed at promoting spatial and technological development. This trend suggests a novel hypothesis: creative industries in single-industry towns can serve as catalysts for new industrialization by leveraging information and telecommunications activities. This study focuses on single-industry towns—a complex and underexplored subject—and proposes adopting a regional 'center-periphery' model as a framework for analysis.Research objective. The study aims to establish conceptual and methodological bases for the spatial socio-economic development of creative industries in Russia by focusing on the case of single-industry towns of Sverdlovsk and Kemerovo regions.Data and methods. This study introduces a methodological framework for evaluating the developmental potential of creative new industrialization, driven by advancements in information and telecommunications. While exploring the concepts of creative neo-industrialization and re-industrialization, the key innovation lies in classifying information and telecommunications as integral components of the creative industries, reflecting broader technological trends. This approach enables the development and testing of spatial models for creative industry growth, considering factors such as institutional constraints, concentration levels, and the potential for creative startups in single-industry towns.Results. The study highlights the concentration of creative industries around emerging local growth points, shaped by technological trends, increased industry concentration, and a declining share of startups in single-industry towns and regional administrative centers. The regions under study show different spatial models of creative new industrialization. In Sverdlovsk region, a center-semi-periphery-periphery model emerged by 2015, with Yekaterinburg at the center. In Kemerovo region, Kemerovo became the center by 2022, following growth transfers from Belovo and Leninsk-Kuznetsk in 2019 and 2021.Conclusions. This study contributes to applied research by integrating the evolutionary theory of growth with the center-periphery model and institutional economics.