Regional Patterns of the Socio-Economic Base of Malang City's Creative Economy: A Spatio-Temporal Clustering Analysis

The creative economy is important for Malang City, but official statistics do not report creative activity at the sub-district level. This study therefore examines the socio-economic base of the creative economy, that is, the local conditions associated with creative activity, and how it differs across the five sub-districts of Malang City over 2022–2025. Eleven indicators from BPS Kota Malang were used, covering entrepreneurship, business institutions, human capital, population, commercial infrastructure, the labour market, and industrial activity. Principal Component Analysis summarised the indicators into three components, which explain 77.8% of the variation. The time paths of these components were compared using Dynamic Time Warping, and geographically connected clusters were formed with the SKATER algorithm. Three clusters were identified, which together reduce the dissimilarity between sub-districts by about 80%. Klojen forms a commercial core. Lowokwaru has many MSMEs and schools but weak commercial infrastructure. Blimbing, Kedungkandang, and Sukun form a populous residential and industrial area with more registered job seekers. The distinct position of Klojen was consistent across almost all alternative specifications. No significant spatial autocorrelation was found, although the test has limited power with five sub-districts. The findings suggest that creative economy policies in Malang City should differ by area, and that creative sub-sector data at finer spatial levels are needed.