Designing a Model for Relationships between Indices of Creative City and Creative Economy Development: A Qualitative Analysis Based on Grounded Theory

This study aims to design a model for the relationships between the indices of a creative city and creative economy development in the creative city of Rasht, Guilan Province, Iran. In this research, the grounded theory was employed to conduct a qualitative analysis, and semi-structured interviews were carried out for data collection. For this purpose, eight interviews were given to senior and middle-ranking city managers on the research topic. Based on Strauss and Corbin’s systematic approach, a model was proposed for the relationships between the indices of a creative city and creative economy development through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The results of coding the interviews indicated that the creative economy was the axial category in the model. Creative economy development included eight components with different weights, among which “creative industries” and “creative citizens” had pivotal roles. According to the experts, different factors such as the characteristics of a creative city affect creative economy development, and urban management is considered to play a key role in this process.