OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

Conclusion
Designing local public policies
Artistic and cultural activities today form the basis of much economic output. Some
of its products are in the conventional cultural domain, while others, in increasing
numbers, appear under the heading of cultural and creative industries.
In both cases, the development interest in this activity is often measured by the
number of jobs created, expressed as a percentage of the work force. Those numbers
are significant: depending on how the cultural field is defined, the proportion may
lie anywhere between 2 and 4%. Locally, these proportions will vary widely, and some
territories will have the appearance of true heritage or cultural districts, while others
will seem by their nature to be lacking in cultural assets. What we want to do is to
measure the spin-offs for a territory: those from attracting visitors and tourists, those
from exporting cultural goods, and of course the social, environmental and “image”
spin-offs.
Contributions vary depending on the context
We may look at the contribution of cultural activities to local development from
three angles:
• The first locates this contribution in terms of the drawing power of cultural
activities. These activities — restoration of monuments, festivals, performances,
exhibitions — attract tourists as well as local visitors who will come for various
goods and services. In doing so, they raise local incomes and stimulate the
economy.
• The second locates this contribution in the power to create new goods and services
that will be sold largely outside the territory but that will bring in new revenues.
• The third, and the longest-standing approach, looks at culture as a system of
values and references that can foster communication among different groups
of people within a territory, the preparation of projects or the taking of common
risks. This is a more anthropological approach. We may speak here of the
CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005 157