Tag Archives: Intangible Heritage

Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-Wide Cultural Districts II: Prototype Cases

Building upon the companion paper in this issue, this essay analyses five case studies that can be taken as prototypes of the system-wide cultural district culture-led developmental model. The research targets five cities in Europe and the U.S.: Valencia, Austin, Newcastle/Gateshead, Linz, and Denver. Continue reading Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-Wide Cultural Districts II: Prototype Cases

Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-Wide Cultural Districts I: Theory

Building on the early works of Alfred Marshall, analyses of local economies have emphasized the spatial function of clusters and industrial districts in terms of external economies of localization and agglomeration. Recent literature has emphasized the importance of culture and the complementarities between culture and local tangible and intangible assets. This paper aims to provide an analytical foundation for these processes with a view to developing tools for policy design, analysis and evaluation. By “system-wide cultural districts,” we refer to a new approach to local development where cultural production and participation present significant strategic complementarities with other production chains. Continue reading Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-Wide Cultural Districts I: Theory

Culture 3.0: A new perspective for the EU 2014-2020 structural funds programming

In spite of the multiplication of successful examples of culture-led local and regional development across Europe and elsewhere (e.g. Sacco et al., 2008, 2009), there is a widespread perception that the role and potential of culture in the overall European long-term competitiveness strategy is still seriously underrecognized (CSES, 2010). This reflects in the difficulty to bring cultural policy issues at the top ranks of the broader policy agenda, and consequently explains why the share of structural funds devoted to culture badly fails to match the share of cultural and creative sectors in total EU value added. Continue reading Culture 3.0: A new perspective for the EU 2014-2020 structural funds programming

The Social Viability of Culture-led Urban Transformation Processes: Evidence from the Bicocca District, Milan

This paper investigates the relationships between cultural activities/investments and urban transformation processes, with reference to the transformation of the Bicocca district in the metropolitan core of Milan. Continue reading The Social Viability of Culture-led Urban Transformation Processes: Evidence from the Bicocca District, Milan

The Power of the Arts in Vancouver: Creating a Great City

An Approach to Cultural Policy in Vancouver
I. Introduction: building competitive advantage for the nascent Vancouver knowledge economy
(…) In a knowledge economy, the reasoning abilities of teenagers may be seen as a key component of the economy’s and society’s “intangible infrastructure”, i.e. as a key factor of competitiveness. Sophisticated cognitive abilities are in fact necessary both on the supply and demand sides: to produce knowledge-intensive goods and
services, and to use and enjoy them in a meaningful, satisfactory way. Measuring how such abilities are being developed by teenagers gives us an interesting view of
the future prospects of specific knowledge economies. Continue reading The Power of the Arts in Vancouver: Creating a Great City

The “Art City” as a local public good: the strategic interplay between private donors and arts organization

In this paper we set up a simple evolutionary game-theoretic model aimed at addressing the issue of ‘art cities’ promotion and preservation over time via simultaneous commitment of nonprofit actors such as private donors and arts organizations. Continue reading The “Art City” as a local public good: the strategic interplay between private donors and arts organization