The impact of cultural spending of cities: analytical survey of 47 cities across the world
By Laurent Benzoni, Chloé Dahiot, Pierre-Yves Deboudé and Anh Tuc Nguyen.
In the framework of the Forum d’Avignon, consultancy Kurt Salmon built a database in 2009 and 2010, comprising 47 cities across 21 countries and 5 continents (28 cities in Europe, 12 in America, 3 in Asia, 2 in Oceania, 1 in Africa). Eleven indicators were used to characterize these cities: 4 indicators rounded out the economic performance category, with the 7 other indicators in the cultural intensity heading. The study included a statistical and econometric study of this sample, which was carried out by TERA Consultants in 2011 in the scope of their partnership with the Forum d’Avignon. The study’s objective was to identify possible significant relations between the cities’ economic performance indicators and culture-based indicators.
Two types of quantitative analyses using different methodologies were carried out. These analyses yielded the following two key messages:
- The first analysis suggests that culture in cities is an individual and collective bonus, providing means for an active and appealing social life.
- The second analysis shows that cultural expenses in a city are a very good means to track the city’s economic development, and provide cities with a means for further development. Cities can monitor their cultural policies for each indicator, ensuring that their policies are not behind in their economic dynamics, helping to either create or consolidate the strong tie linking investment in culture in the economic dynamics.
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