OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
• Cultural activities will have a more important impact if their territory is densely
populated, or a metropolitan area. As we saw above (see Table 2.2), this point had
already been made in the late 1980s, and it has been repeatedly confirmed since
then (Myerscough, 1988). The reason is simple enough. Only major cities have the
servicing capacity to meet tourists’ needs, and to reap the revenues. Conversely,
smaller, less diversified regions will have to import these means, assuming they
can keep tourists in their territory at all. There is nothing new about this analysis.
As early as 1981, a report for the National Endowment for the Arts used a sample
contrasting New York City with seven mid-sized American cities (Columbus,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis, Springfield, Salt Lake City and San Antonio) to show
that the benefits derived from culture would vary in direct proportion to their
population. These variations were even stronger in terms of spending than of
audience, which meant that tourist spending would vary with city size still more
sharply than would tourist numbers (National Endowment for the Arts , 1981).
• Cultural activities will have a greater impact if they involve the local populace.
Transforming a cultural potential into a source of varied activities throughout
the year, and not just during the tourist season, conserving heritage attractions,
finding the money for investments, mobilising volunteers, enlisting partners
to prevent the deterioration of a local site — all of this implies commitment
and participation by local people and communities. Turning a territory into a
museum will not guarantee its sustainable development.
• Kanazawa is a city in the central and western part of Japan, endowed with a heritage
that is both tangible (monuments and temples) and intangible (substantial knowhow
in the production of wallpaper and parasols). The decline of Japan’s textile
industry and decades of flight by the rural population, which have weakened
regions like that of Kanazawa and strengthened those of Kansai and Tohok, have
prompted the city to reformulate both its opportunities and its image to become
a centre of attraction. Three strategies were adopted to exploit the potential
of the city’s considerable cultural heritage.
• The first was to develop all components of its heritage in an integrated manner,
rather than taking a piecemeal approach to individual monuments. By
deploying resources flexibly, it would be possible to extend prospects
and achieve cross-fertilisation, e.g. between the restoration of tea houses
and samurai dwellings and the promotion of local arts and crafts.
• The second was to bring students back to the city centre, since the trend
over time had been to locate all teaching and student-life facilities outside
of cities, whereas students were capable of conducting a variety of cultural
activities in sites targeted for rehabilitation. Examples of this include two
theatres that were restored and are now being managed by students.
84 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005