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Following the hype that has been given to culture as trigger and enhancer of local economic performance in the last 20 years, the cultural character of cities is considered as a strategic strength and opportunity that can favour the economic system of the entire regions in which the cities are located. According to this perspective, this paper explores the role of cultural participation, intended as individuals' involvement in cultural activities, in affecting regional output. Exploiting a regional production function and data from the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (CCCM) provided by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), the effect of urban cultural participation on the regional economy is econometrically investigated. Potential congestion effects possibly related to (excessive) cultural tourism are also examined. Cultural participation in Cultural and Creative Cities emerges as a strategic resource for development, although some congestion mechanisms could reduce its positive effect. Related policy implications are thoroughly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (CCCM) is a valuable tool to measure and compare European cities' cultural and creative vitality. It addresses three dimensions: the presence of cultural venues and facilities (i.e., Cultural Vibrancy); the jobs and innovations connected to the so-called creative industries (i.e., the Creative Economy); and the enabling conditions for culture and creativity diffusion: human capital, diversity, trust and openness, international accessibility, and connectivity (i.e., an Enabling Environment). Comparing and ranking cities on these different dimensions offer policymakers the possibility of developing strategies related to their development (Montalto et al. 2019). However, as is recognized in the report presenting the CCCM, significant methodological limitations exist. They are related to both the tool and the potential behavioral implications it generates (JRC-OECD Handbook, 2008) and to the difficulties with addressing a multifaceted phenomenon with scant data, which offer limited opportunities to adequately measure cultural and creative cities (Van Puyenbroeck et al. 2021). In this paper, we integrate the CCCM framework to propose a spatially contextualized application at the city level as a tool to support policymakers' understanding of the potential role of cultural and creative organizations in city development (Soini and Dessein, 2016). We, therefore, build our arguments on a recent stream of research showing the importance of the spatial dimension to understand the relevance of cultural and creative industries within a context and inform decision-makers (Boal-San Miguel and Herrero-Prieto, 2020). This spatial dimension is even more important at the city level, where public, private, and non-profit organizations interact to execute culture-led policies (Bonet and Négrier, 2018). In this case, the location of specific organizations may be critical in offering opportunities at the neighborhood level, paving the way to space-driven local level policies (e.g., the 15 min walking strategy; see e.g., Pisano, 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural heritage has been recognized as fundamental for local development. In particular, some recent works have highlighted the role of sophisticated transmission channels of this relationship, that is local creativity and cosmopolitan identity. Following a territorial perspective, the present work aims at combining the two approaches, in the belief that there could be a synergic interplay between creativity and cosmopolitan identity, reinforcing their individual effects. Accordingly, an original conceptual and operational taxonomy characterizing cultural cities is put forward. The contribution of the different identified patterns to urban and regional growth is assessed, as well as their capacity to valorize cultural participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new movement in urban environmental policy, the circular economy (CE), aims to change how Europeans consume and produce materials and energy. Cities are taking up the CE challenge. This research inquires whether the infant CE programs in European cities include cultural heritage and adaptive reuse of cultural heritage (ARCH) buildings. ARCH buildings exemplify the central principal of the CE, which is a temporally long service life with multiple uses for several generations of users. In addition, culture and cultural heritage buildings are established drivers of socioeconomic development, urban landscape, and identity. Hypothetically, cultural heritage and adaptive reuse of cultural heritage (ARCH) buildings should be prominently included in European cities' CE programs, particularly those cities that are highly ranked on the 2019 European Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor (Monitor). To test this hypothesis, this study creates a novel dataset that profiles the existing circular city plans of 190 European cities included in the Monitor's ranking. Contrary to the hypothesis, just seven percent of cities in the dataset include cultural heritage. European cities are missing an opportunity to achieve their CE goals and preserve their unique identities as embodied in the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]