We have collected comparable historical data on the emergence of creative clusters/districts of three cities, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Istanbul in Turkey and Barcelona in Spain. We highlight similar dynamics such as the effects global cultural markets, the dynamics of post-industrial economies, industrial agglomeration and shared historical events such as the international financial crisis 2008/2009. By putting side by side a historically-informed analysis of the emergence of creative districts in these cities, we are aiming at shedding light on how the local build-up of resources, the institutional set-up and the small events play a different level of input in the clustering effect of creative industries according to the different regional conditions and how such an emergence path has strongly shaped the evolutionary response to certain pivotal events. In particular, we stress contrasting effects of a range of global and local crises in these cities, and highlight lessons on the resilience of creative industries in the face of crisis.