Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Driving Mechanisms of the Digital Creative Industry in China’s Coastal Regions

Against the backdrop of the rapid development of the digital economy, the digital creative industry has gradually emerged as a key driver of regional economic restructuring and urban spatial reconfiguration. However, there remains a lack of systematic empirical research into its spatial evolution patterns and driving mechanisms. This study focuses on China’s coastal regions, utilising microdata from 25,162 digital creative enterprises. By combining spatial statistical analysis with the Geographically Weighted Time-Space Regression (GTWR) model, it systematically analyses the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and driving mechanisms of the digital creative industry. The study reveals that the digital creative industry in China’s coastal regions exhibits significant spatial agglomeration, gradually forming a multi-centred network structure centred on the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Analysis of the driving mechanisms indicates that economic development levels, innovation capacity and digital infrastructure are key factors influencing the industry’s spatial pattern, with innovation capacity and internet infrastructure playing an increasingly significant role in the later stages of industrial development. Different urban agglomerations exhibit distinct trajectories in industrial development: the Pearl River Delta region relies more heavily on digital platforms and market environments, whilst the Yangtze River Delta region is primarily driven by the aggregation of innovation resources. Overall, the development of the digital creative industry follows an evolutionary path shifting from being driven by economic foundations to being driven by innovation and the digital environment. This paper reveals the evolutionary process of the driving mechanisms of the digital creative industry from a spatiotemporal perspective, providing new empirical evidence for understanding the spatial organisation of the creative industry within the context of the digital economy.