OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

3. PROMOTING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY CREATING CULTURAL PRODUCTS
their distinctive character is exploited by adding trademarks, such as that of
the perfumes of Grasse.
Like many medium-sized Japanese towns, the city of Nagahama, in Shiga
prefecture, underwent a wave of modernisation that was detrimental to its traditional
heritage. When the bubble of the 1990s burst, it was compelled to seek new sources
of development, especially in view of its decreasing population. A potential
opportunity arose when the Kurakabe Bank relocated, abandoning its previous
premises for demolition. While the building, which dates back to the turn of the
century, lacked great architectural distinction, it did possess a certain character and
could boast a centre-city location in Kurakabe Square. Under pressure from a
number of non-profit organisations, the municipality took over the property so as
to turn it into the Kurokabe Glass Craft Building – a showcase for a craft that had
once been a cornerstone of the local economy. But establishing this showcase was
just the beginning: a mixed enterprise with capital from both the public sector (the
municipality and the region) and private enterprise (glass firms) decided to
surround the building with display workshops and showrooms featuring the various
techniques of glass craftsmanship. The joint venture was managed by private
partners, and before long about ten such facilities had been established. Activities
were interlinked on both an intangible level and with more tangible marketing
strategies. Lastly, the joint venture created its own brand – Reflection Kurokabe.
A further consequence of this renaissance of an activity that had existed for four
hundred years, but most of whose firms had shut down during the 1980s, was that
restoration work was undertaken all around the Square, including Museum Street,
where a systematic renovation of old houses was begun. Tourist attractions followed,
and the number of tourists, which had been under 300 000 in 1981, exceeded two
million in 2001.
Even so, this did not solve all of the problems: the population continued to wane,
and only 10% of these tourists stayed even one night in Nagahama, diminishing their
economic impact. Yet a number of factors were identified to explain the success: a
capacity to combine tangible and intangible heritage; the role of third-sector
organisations; the extent of private-sector management, which attained its marketing
objectives; and, not least importantly, the ability of this traditional craft to address a
yearning to improve the quality of everyday living (Kakiouchi, 2003).
- Finally, we may identify metropolitan cultural districts that can appear in the
form of an extension of a museum district but will be much larger.
They attempt to breathe life and activity into an area by associating the performing
arts, museums and producers of audiovisual or other cultural goods (such as radio
and TV stations, film and recording studios). They often present a core and two
peripheral circles. The core includes the key cultural institutions: theatres, museums,
CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005 109