The article presents a study of the peculiarities of legal regulation of the development of the regional creative industry cluster in the Saratov and Ulyanovsk regions through the analysis of materials of federal laws, strategic documents for the development of regions, regulatory and legal acts aimed at supporting socio-economic development, regulation of investment and innovation, entrepreneurship in the cultural sectors industries based on data obtained by content analysis. The concept of “creative industries” has not been fixed in the Russian legal field, although it is embedded in the rhetoric of the executive branch of individual regions in software solutions for the development of their innovative potential, urban comfortable environment, small and medium-sized businesses. The study is based on an analysis of categories such as creative industries, creative clusters, and spatial development. The purpose of the study is formulated at the intersection of the problem field, including the representation of the concepts in question in official documents, programs, regulatory acts as management mechanisms and systemic support for the sphere of culture and art, creative entrepreneurship. To achieve the goal, content analysis was used. In the framework of this method, legal and strategic documents of the federal, regional and municipal levels in the field of cultural policy, culture and art, socio-economic development, outlined by the time interval from 1991 to 2019, were selected. The units of content analysis are culture, creativity, creativity, entrepreneurship, social and economic security, innovative development, investment activity, spatial and regional development. The selected categories were analyzed taking into account the specifics of territorial management and regulation of the sphere of culture and art. During the analysis of official documents, thematic areas were identified that determine the semantic field of creative industries, including the legal field of culture, spatial and innovative development of regions as a potential for the development of clusters of creative industries, regional features of including creative industries in the agenda of socio-economic development of Russian entities. Based on the results of the study, conclusions are drawn that the institutionalization of creative practices related to economic activity is gradually acquiring formal relations, making the segment of creative and creative industries visible to regional entrepreneurs and governments. At the same time, the concept of creative industries at the moment has not received due attention from the legislative and executive authorities. Outside of discussions are questions of the development of creative clusters and the conditions for their functioning within the framework of cluster policy. This, in turn, makes sustainable discussions about the residual principle of financing the sphere of culture and art, maintaining the discourse on culture and art in the aspect of preserving traditions, values, social norms and expectations of the state and population.
