The implementation of ‘Creative Cities’ projects, all over the world, in recent years, has
been characterized by a great diversity of institutional frameworks and governance mechanisms.
Departing from the contemporary debates on “creative industries” and “creative cities”, this
paper aims to discuss this diversity of regulatory mechanisms and governance forms. Some
tentative typologies of case studies and governance mechanisms are drawn in order to improve
the understanding of those dynamics, to build up knowledge on suitable ‘Creative Cities’
governance models, and to develop ideas to support a strategy for public intervention in the
Portuguese case
