The metaphor of a "value creating ecology" is developed to describe the operation of the creative industries. This encapsulates three important trends, namely the shift from consumers to co-creators of value; the shift from thinking about product value to thinking about network value; and the shift from thinking about cooperation or competition to thinking about co-opetition. Underlying this metaphor is recognition of the need to consider both public mechanisms as well as the market when framing creative industries development policy. Policy implications for human capital, urban policy and sectoral infrastructure are described.