CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENTdimetic.dime-eu.org/dimetic_files/phd_2007-1_ERDOS.pdf · 2010-11-25 · Culture and Local Development 5 Katalin Erd_s DIMETIC 2007 Strasbourg cause a

Culture and Local Development Katalin Erd_s

DIMETIC 2007 Strasbourg

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CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

My name is Katalin Erd_s, and I am from Hungary. My field of interest is culture and local

development. I am still at the beginning of my research, so I do not have any spectacular

findings (hopefully yet). That is why I would like to present a possible research plan, as well

as my opinion about the Hungarian situation related to this field, especially about Pécs, where

I live, a city that will be the European Capital of Culture in 2010. Also, the ECC project is

closely related to the culture, so I will mention it several times, as an example, not least be-

cause this was my thesis, so I have some detailed information about it.

In my presentation I would like to draw your attention to the possible research fields of

this theme, not least to the possible difficulties that can occur during the research. In my

opinion we should make a difference between the developments and incomes, directly or indi-

rectly related to culture. The direct benefits and incomes are easier to measure and identify,

such as sold theatre tickets or other cultural products, whilst indirect benefits, such as higher

cooperation and better project-culture or attracting highly educated workers are more difficult

to measure and even to separate from other factors. There are also some overlaps between

these categories, which do not make the analysis easier. For example, cultural tourism is of

course closely related to a territory’s culture, to the atmosphere of it, which is hard to materi-

alize, but the tourism expenditures can be measured. The bought product will be the cultural

product itself, and also other related advantages and consumption will be realised during the

culture-motivated travel, but e.g. word of mouth advertisement of the city or the region

through the tourists is not easy to estimate. According to this I would like to regard some

categories, such as regional culture in the relation to business and labour force, cultural tour-

ism, and cultural products, and show their direct and indirect effects, and draw up the Hun-

garian situation the way I see it. But first of all I would like to present the definition of cul-

tural and creative industries. These are sometimes overlapping categories, and during my re-

searches I would like to create a system of possible grouping of culture-related benefits.

The definition of cultural and creative industries is not unified in the literature. In some

cases these mean the same, but in other cases there is a difference between them. In my opin-

ion the second approach is a little bit better, so in my work I use the definition of the British

DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport), where the cultural industry is broader, and

creative industries are only part of it. According to this, cultural industry involves the arts,

creative industries, tourism, libraries, museums and galleries, sports. Creative industries con-

sist of several other components; advertising, architecture, art & antiques market, crafts, de-



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sign, designer fashion, video, film, music & photography, music and the visual and perform-

ing arts, publishing, interactive leisure software (i.e. computer games), software, electronic

publishing, radio and TV [DCMS, Creative Industries Factfile – Annex A 2002, in: Sadiq et

al. 2003, Annex 2.].

Another type of grouping is if we examine culture under other aspects, culture as immov-

able or movable product, and within these categories as final or intermediate consumption

good (Table 1.).

Table 1.

Source: Griffe et al., 2005As Table 1. clearly shows, even in this manner of grouping are some overlaps.

The culture of a territory can influence the local development many ways, and cultural in-

dustries are only one of them. If we regard culture as an influence factor of behaviour (as a

set of values, norms and benchmarks that guide and shape the behaviour of individuals and

communities), we can be engaged with the cooperation- and organisation modes among play-

ers for mobilising a territory’s resources, attitudes towards project- and activity-creation, and

Culture

Immoveableproduct

Final con-sumption

Intermediateconsumption

Moveableproduct

Temporary

Cultural in-dustriesFashionFurnishingsGraphic arts

Architecture

FairsBiennialsFestivalsExhibitions

Graphic artsVideoIndustrial de-sign

Final con-sumption


PermanentMonumentsMuseumsPerformingarts



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integrating excluded or marginalised individuals and communities, to promote sustainable de-

velopment [Griffe et al. 2005]. In the 21st century cooperation and clustering are very impor-

tant. This has several reasons, on the one hand the economies of scale, on the other hand also

the knowledge spill-over and other agglomeration externalities. In the cultural industries these

effects may be even more important than in the knowledge industries. Entrepreneurial and

business culture1 is very important, because it can enhance cooperation and trust among the

players, which are necessary for a good cooperation. Common projects and activities seem to

be unavoidable to development. After the EU-accession of Hungary, and also at the Pre-

accession Funds it become clear that the Hungarian entrepreneurs are very suspicious and co-

operation is not their strength. Although the EU programming principles require partnership

and publicity, the Hungarian project culture is still very crude, networks of cooperation are

rarely to find, and even among the existing ones there are several formal cooperations where

the players develop their own projects, and sign each other as partners, but also the imple-

mentation of the winning projects happen separately, even when the papers show it otherwise.

A lot of Hungarian players want to be sure that they project-idea will not be stolen, so they do

not share it with the possible partners, they try to carry out it alone, and even the publicity is

often deficient, for similar reasons. There was a willingness in the South-Transdanubian Re-

gion to make a really bottom-up project-planning for the programming period a 2007–2013,

and a so called KEZDET homepage was launched where the possible project-owners could

send their ideas. For whatever reasons the results were under the expectations, both in quality

and quantity. Maybe because of the mistrust, but maybe because of the lack of creativity from

side of the players, but it can also occur that the main reason was the fact that the securing of

the self-sources is a big issue that for a lot of players, so they do not even think about projects,

because they think that they are unable to realise the possible benefits. To tell the truth, the

Hungarian competition system is not perfect, under some aspects it is stricter than in other EU

member states, and requires big administration. Maybe the reason for the less creative plan-

ning and lack of entrepreneurial and business culture is that in the socialism entrepreneurship

was not widespread, there was only a small stratum like e.g. craftsmen. In the socialist con-

trolled or planned economy everything was centralised, the plans and objectives were defined

at the national level, so planning and project-culture was not embedded in the everyday life.

1 Entrepreneurial culture: all those qualities and skills that make individuals, organisations, communities and so-cieties creative, flexible and able to adapt economic and social changes,Business culture: it has to do with all the rules that lead members of the business to produce good results [Griffeet al. 2005]



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Culture can also foster the integration of marginalised people and communities. Culture-

led urban regeneration, creating of cultural quarters by renovating old houses, or revival of

brown-field areas is another possible positive effect related to culture. Even in Pécs there is a

plan to fill old and slummed city-sides with new functions in the ECC project (concert hall

and animation studio, reconstruction of the porcelain-manufacture called Zsolnay) to renew,

and the reconstruction of public squares and parks is also important. Also, local residents

were asked to send their ideas. Creating cultural quarters is more or less a conscious process.

Another culture-related concept is cultural district, which is even spontaneous and relates to

the nature of the cultural products. In the cultural districts artists and other cultural employ-

ment can work together, enhancing information- and knowledge-flow. In these professions

know-how is very important, and the physical proximity of other artists can lead to coopera-

tion and knowledge spillover, the easier flow of tacit knowledge-elements. But to tell the truth

the expected benefits are not always realised, and in some cases also cultural districts will be

located at disadvantaged areas, because they have special needs, such as big and cheap build-

ings, which can be found in the peripheries.

Another culture-related issue is the migration of highly educated labour force. European

surveys show that the cultural richness of a city can enhance the immigration of skilled work-

ers. Nowadays migration tendencies are influenced by factors such as beautiful environment,

safety and so on, while factors which were very important in the past, like the labour market,

have less impact. Some researches found that labour-force related factors have moderate and

decreasing importance (13–20%), social factors were the motivator at 30–40%, and only 20%

explained the moving-decision with the aim of changing environment [Garvill et al. 2000, in:

Wikhall 2002]. In some cases work is not only an effort, but rather a lifestyle [Copenhagen

Institute for Future Studies 1996, in: Wikhall 2002]. In my point of view such are e.g. exactly

the jobs related to the cultural industry. In my opinion among the Hungarian circumstances

the migration influence factors are a little bit different, labour force explained migration is

very high, which may be related to the high unemployment rate in the villages and country-

side cities, whereas the main immigration targets are the capital city, Budapest, and Middle-

Hungarian, as well in North-Transdanubian cities with higher level of industrial activities,

such as Székesfehérvár, Gy_r or Veszprém. Mainly the young graduates emigrate from the

countryside university-cities, because of the lack of workplaces. In this relation I would like

to speak about the universities and colleges as a culture influence factor. In my opinion there

is a synergy among them, since university students are big consumers of culture, and a flow-

ering cultural life of a city can be an advantage in comparison to other university cities, be-



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cause a lot of students like going to the cinema, theatre, concerts, festivals, museums and con-

ferences, and their purchase of other cultural goods (fashion goods, leisure software) also

fosters the cultural industry. Related to this, the integration of the local economy is very im-

portant, since all these goods should be produced in the area, otherwise the benefits are flow-

ing out of the city in form of import, which is not very fortuitous.

Production of cultural goods is another issue. Cultural goods are mainly high value

added, and the salaries and wages of this sector are usually above the average, and also the

related services are on a wide range. Cultural goods consumed outside the region where they

were produced can enhance the popularity of the regions and can generate tourism benefits, if

there are some for factories open to visitors. Hereby are cultural districts, as well as cultural

clusters again to mention, because it seems that the last ones are necessary to stay competitive

in the global and knowledge economy’s age. Clustering and networking are in the cultural in-

dustry because of the agglomeration externalities and important tacit knowledge-transfer.

Cultural goods are characteristic for the region, they are produced in, a lot of regions or cities

are popular because of their cultural industry (Paris - fashion).

Cultural tourism is a very complex question, and its generated benefits are sometimes

overestimated. Cultural events (festivals, biennials) and attractions (museums, monuments)

have of course spectacular impact, but we have to see clearly that mostly there is a need of

subsidy (state, local or maybe private grant) to meet the financial needs of them. Even at the

ECC was the financial result for 1/3 proportion surplus, deficit and zero. In my point of view

the real development impact of these is in other benefits, such as enhanced self-confidence

and awareness of local residence, the international knowledge of the city, developing entre-

preneurial culture and cooperation (even on international field), and of course the tourism re-

lated expenditures (accommodation, travel, insurance, bank services and so on). To realise the

most benefits I have to mention again the integration of the local economy, since if these

services are imported, the benefits will be realised out of the region. Also this is the case re-

lated to the ECC, which can improve the business image of the city, can generate capital in-

vestments. Capital investments should be planned very carefully, because buildings are not

only to be built, their maintenance also costs a lot of money, so if the city would like to avoid

bankruptcy, it is recommended to regard the maintenance capacity of the city or the region.

Related to cultural tourism there are measuring difficulties, it is hard to eliminate solely cul-

ture-motivated tourists from other, and even if it can be done, there is also the question how to

estimate their number. The airport data show only a part of the total visitor number, and tick-

ets sold for a festival also can be misleading, since there can be visitors who attend several of



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every one of the events. Also, accommodation data are not totally reliable, since one-day

visitors are not shown in them.

These were some possible research fields related to culture and local development. In my

opinion I manage to highlight the benefits as well the difficulties which can occur. In my

opinion this is a very interesting and future-oriented field, and nowadays very topical. In my

point of view there is a critical mass needed, and from the point it is a self-generating process,

and synergies became into effect; I mean hereby that cultural industries need consumers and

well-trained, highly educated labour force, as far as the highly educated require culture prod-

ucts and facilities. This is of course my opinion, and in my researches I would like to prove it,

if it is possible. According to my plans, I would examine some successful culture-regions or

cities in the world, whereby I hopefully can see the process of becoming a culture-region or

city. After that I would like to examine the Hungarian situation, so I maybe see where in this

process for example my city, Pécs is, and so I may be able to forecast the rest of the way, and

its stations. Of course this requires strong knowledge about this field, and I also like to make a

possible culture-research plan and methodology, using the already existing approaches, and

methods.



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REFERENCES

Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Five Mega Trends and Nine Wild Cards (1996)

(Copenhagen: Report to be presented at Copenhagen Wild Cards – a music seminar for the

future, 1996), in: Wikhall, Maria (2002): Culture as Regional Attraction: Migration Decisions

o f H i g h l y E d u c a t e d i n a S w e d i s h c o n t e x t –

http://www.raumplanung.uni.dortmund.de/rwp/ersa2002/cd-rom/papers/318.pdf – Download:

21.02.2005.

DCMS Creative Industries Factfile – Annex A (2002), in: Sadiq, K. – Walker, H. – Hutton, S.

– Artis, H. (2003): European Capital of Culture 2008. Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of

Liverpool’s Bid, ERM Economics

Garvill, Jörgen – Malmberg, Gunnar – Westin, Kerstin (2000): Värdet av att flytta och

lisvärden. Stockholm, Rapport 2 från regionalpolitiska utredingen, SOU 2000; 36, 2000, in:

Wikhall, Maria (2002): Culture as Regional Attraction: Migration Decisions of Highly

Educated in a Swedish context – http://www.raumplanung.uni.dortmund.de/rwp/ersa2002/cd-

rom/papers/318.pdf – Download: 21.02.2005.

Griffe, X. – Pflieger, Sylvie – Noya, Antonella (2005): Culture and Local Development,

OECD


CULTURE AND LOCALDEVELOPMENT

Katalin Erd_s


• Cultural and creative industry

• Culture

• Production of cultural goods

• Cultural tourism

• ECC


Cultural and creative industriesDCMS definition

Cultural industry• Arts• Creative industries• Tourism• Libraries• Museums and galleries• Sports

Creative industry• Advertising• Architecture• Art & antiques market• Crafts• Design• Designer fashion• Video• Film• Music & photography• Music and the visual and

performing arts• Publishing• Interactive leisure software• Software• Electronic publishing• Radio and TV


Cultural and creative industries

Culture

Immoveableproduct

Finalconsumption


Moveableproduct

Temporary

CulturalindustriesFashionFurnishingsGraphic arts

Architecture

FairsBiennialsFestivalsExhibitions

Graphic artsVideoIndustrialdesign

Finalconsumption


PermanentMonumentsMuseumsPerformingarts

Source: Greffe et al., 2005


Culture

• influence factor of behaviour (as a set of values,norms and benchmarks that guide and shapethe behaviour of individuals and communities)

• the cooperation- and organisation modes amongplayers for mobilising a territory’s resources,attitudes towards project- and activity-creation,and integrating excluded or marginalisedindividuals and communities, to promotesustainable development [Greffe et al. 2005]


Culture

• cooperation and clustering

• entrepreneurial and business culture

• partnership

• integration of marginalised people andcommunities

• cultural quarters

• cultural district

• the migration of highly educated labour force


Production of cultural goods

• characteristic for the given region

• enhances the popularity of the region

• cultural quarters and districts

• networking and clustering

• tacit knowledge transfer


Cultural tourism

• enhanced self-confidence and awarenessof local residence

• developing entrepreneurial culture andcooperation

• tourism related expenditures (TSA)


European Capital of Culture

“Culture, art and creativity are not lessimportant I than technology, commerceand the economy.”

Melina Mercouri, 1983


Robert Palmer (2004): European Cities and Capitals of Culture


Palmer, 2004


Overall outcome

Palmer, 2004


Change in overnight visitors toECC-s 1995-2003

Palmer, 2004


Change in overnight stays in ECCcompared with other European Cities

Palmer, 2004

DIMETIC 2007 Strasbourg Palmer, 2004


Thank you for your attention!

Documents

CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENTdimetic.dime-eu.org/dimetic_files/phd_2007-1_ERDOS.pdf · 2010-11-25 · Culture and Local Development 5 Katalin Erd_s DIMETIC 2007 Strasbourg cause a