OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
- the territory’s capacity to produce all the goods and services demanded on these
occasions. This last condition suggests that the effects of a cultural activity will
be greater for territories of larger size and population density.
- the interdependence of the cultural activities, taking advantage in this way of
“crowding-in” effects.
Built heritage
Consideration of built heritage is often reduced to the existence of a few prestigious
monuments that reinforce the “brand image” of the territory where they are located
and serve to attract tourists. There is no doubt that monuments are a source of
significant and permanent effects, commercial and otherwise, and that they contribute
to local development. But this view is too narrow. Monuments will often be only the
most visible features of neighbourhoods or even of whole cities that have this heritage
dimension. At this point, heritage becomes a condition of local life and influences all
possible economic activities. Monuments and public or private buildings are constantly
undergoing conservation, renovation or upgrading, and they are a constant source of
demand for labour, trades and skills that themselves constitute an economic sector,
and that can be transferred to the benefit of other kinds of dwellings or of activities.
Heritage supports the existence of a true economic branch or industry.
- To illustrate this impact of the built heritage on employment, there are several
possible routes. The first looks at renovation works to a monument, and to the
protected areas or the development zones surrounding it. We find that conservation
and renovation works are significant and they take a long time. In French cities
that have instituted protected heritage areas, nearly 150 jobs have been created
over a period of 20 years, while their population is no more than 30,000.
An illustration of these spin-offs comes from the city of Arles, which has nearly
100 protected monuments and a heritage of provençal dress and furnishings that
constitute permanent points of reference, not to mention its protected district,
the conservation and rehabilitation work on which has generated and continue
to support employment in both the conservation and the creative fields. They
have also attracted firms from throughout France to take advantage of these
open-air “research and creation laboratories”. These laboratories include studies
of building materials (for example, reconstituting paving stones for antique
monuments, but then using them elsewhere as well); graphic arts firms (reconstituting
three-dimensional buildings and creating web sites on heritage discoveries
throughout Europe); photography, clothing and craft shops (roof tiles, iron work,
stone sculpture). It has been shown that the number of such jobs (perhaps 700)
is far greater than the number of people engaged solely in opening and operating
heritage sites (around 450), (Service de Patrimoine de la Ville d’Arles, 2004).
CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005 63