OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

3. PROMOTING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY CREATING CULTURAL PRODUCTS
Initially, the only reasons for moving the studios to Los Angeles — they had originally
been located on the East Coast — were its climate and the price and availability of
land. The sunny clime made it possible to shoot films year round (even though they
would soon be largely made indoors), and the real estate available in the Hollywood
hills made it possible to purchase large tracts of land at low cost. The clustering of
a number of studios soon created an artistic and technical labour market that gave
producers ready access to the resources they needed, and allowed actors and
technicians to find work. It is somewhat paradoxical that the economic image often
associated with Hollywood is that of a Fordist type of organisation, when in reality it
has essentially been an “open-air” market, where adjustments could be made virtually
instantaneously — and, in fact, this continues to be the case. This pattern is also found
in multimedia districts, which combine all the activities connected with production:
equipment, software, written and audiovisual resources, and final products. At the
heart of these multimedia activities, the cultural components (written and audio-visual
resources) may act as a bottleneck.
- A third type of cultural and creative arts district associates the producers of objects
that have both an artistic and a commercial dimension, such as arts and crafts,
fashion, design, or the production of crystals and enamels.
They can be analysed in reference to the preceding type, since they also involve
districts that produce goods. The artistic element appears in their inspiration, their
production techniques and their idiosyncratic nature, as well as the use of what are
essentially craft techniques (but that can also incorporate leading-edge technologies),
and the recognition of intellectual property rights (although they are rarely patented).
These different elements are combined to varying degrees. They are generally based
on long-standing historic traditions, and more recent creative districts are rare, with
exceptions such as the audiovisual district of Montreuil or the film district of Angoulême.
These districts can quickly become creativity clusters once their purely cultural
products yield to goods that have both a cultural and a strong utilitarian dimension,
such as clothing, perfumes, ceramics and glassmaking.
- Yet another type of district, identified by Walter Santagata, is tied in with the
legal recognition of the specific features of cultural products and of the
environment in which they are produced. By according legal recognition to
certain local products (textiles, furniture, agricultural products or wines), the
authorities confer genuine property rights that are much like intellectual
property rights, so that the district’s name is protected and can be used to
market its products. A good example is the use of the appellation d’origine
contrôlée, which conveys legal protection on territories producing a specific good
that is rooted in local know-how and traditional skills. In comparison to the
previous districts, we may say that the rural dimension is what is most important
here. Like them, these districts are sharply delimited geographically and
108 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005