OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
A 1997 study compared the economic impact of the Venice Biennial and that of
Documenta at Kassel (Helstern et al., 1995). Between 1986 and 1992, the Biennial’s
budget rose from €3 million to €16 million, and that of Documenta from €2 million
to €5 million. Government covered one-third of the total cost for Documenta and twothirds
for the Biennial 61 . Attendance revenues for Documenta were very high: it
attracted 615,000 visitors in the early 1990s, and numbers rose steadily thereafter, while
the Biennial, after a period of decline starting in 1976, drew 175,000 visitors.
Parks and landscapes
As North American experience shows, nature parks can be part of culture. On one
hand, they stand as places of environmental protection, and on the other hand they
choose themes that highlight a territory’s culture. Some observers see these parks
as competing for attendance at traditional sites, noting the contrast between the
high number of visitors to parks and the decline in visitors to conventional cultural
facilities (Origet du Cluzeau, 1998) 62 . But it would be better to regard these parks as
yet another form of cultural facility. Established originally as hunting preserves for
the aristocracy, they have gradually been transformed into nature parks for the general
public. Designed for public enjoyment, they now increasingly offer educational and
cultural functions: “These … places, whether they are called nature parks or culture
parks, offer a wealth of experiences, forms and lifestyles, and they have a power to
evoke emotion and meaning in time and in space. They occupy a real place in space:
that is their natural anchor. From the vestiges of times past, they also tell of the
history that has shaped them: that is their cultural anchor. Whether we speak of a national
park, a site, or a historic canal, their intrinsic reality makes them all obvious links with
the concepts of nature and culture that model these heritage objects as they have
come down to us today” 63 .
This symbiosis, highlighted by the UNESCO Convention, is particularly evident
in Canada, where Parks Canada manages 145 historic sites, 39 national parks, 8 historic
canals and 26 heritage rivers (Parks Canada, 1994). The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine
Park was originally established in 1990 to protect the beluga whales from mass
extermination. But gradually, and as a result of public consultations, it took on the
dimension of a conservation park, highlighting the different values that constitute the
site. According to a recent report, the park can preserve and renew these values, while
at the same time accommodating commercial operations, and can become a useful
resource both for local residents and for visitors, who will find conditions much
improved (Parks Canada, 1994).
In recent years, landscapes have become recognised as cultural resources (as well
as environmental ones), and they are now considered to have an economic development
impact comparable to that of other cultural resources. This symbiosis between
landscape and culture is strictly artificial. Landscapes are the result of human creations,
82 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005