Work Package 5 – Towards a co-construction and co-production of the territorial cultural strategy (the cases of Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis and the London Metropolitan Area)
Lead: Université d’Aix Marseille
WP5 aims to
- Identify the governing mechanisms fostering co-construction and co-production of a territorial cultural strategy
- Identify the appropriate public and private means in order to foster the development of a cultural and creative hotspot anchored within the territory
This Work Package focuses on the co-construction and co-production of a cultural strategy, seen as part and parcel of the strategic role of local and regional governments as agents of economic and cultural development. It reflects the broad concern of the project to explore the role of public agencies in stimulating economic and social development by managing strategically.
The cultural sector is chosen because (i) Europe is characterized by a humanistic attachment to culture as a good in itself and (ii) the growing importance of cultural industries and associated public funded agencies (e.g. museums; galleries; theatres) in a knowledge based economy. These settings are economically as well as socially important in trying to stimulate trajectories of high economic growth at a regional level.
The metropolitan area of Aix-Marseilles is first selected case study due to the centrality of the cultural strategy as part and parcel of the territorial development of the area, as well as crucially because of the significance of the role played by private and societal actors in it. The strong value-added cultural and creative activities have become an essential lever for the attractiveness and the socioeconomic dynamism of the territory. The London metropolitan area is proposed as second selected case and comparator, due to the prominence of the cultural sector in making London a ‘global city’ (e.g. the South Bank arts complex). It will build on the first case and provide a comparator.
The two cases combined will serve as source sites for the extrapolation of practices for the strategic development of cultural fields in mid-level and large-level metropolitan areas across Europe.
This research focuses on the strategies of three essential stakeholders:
- Local political authorities and territorial managers
- Cultural organizations (public or publicly funded cultural agencies and partnerships)
- Civil society such as citizens, notably active in the cultural field/agents of cultural animation in the locality (art galleries, etc.)