Medium and Small Cities, Culture and the Economy of Culture. A Review of the Approach to the Case of Spain in Light of International Scientific Scholarship

Diego Barrado-Timón, Antonio Palacios and Carmen Hidalgo-Giralt
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Diego Barrado-Timón: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Antonio Palacios: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Carmen Hidalgo-Giralt: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-28

Abstract: While most published studies on the economy of culture present a clear bias in favor of large cities, a significant international bibliography has emerged in recent years that privileges the perspective of medium and small cities. Unfortunately, the case of Spain has been largely overlooked by these analyses; this text is intended to remedy that oversight. To that end, a bibliographic compilation has been undertaken of studies on the cultural economy and cultural development in small and medium Spanish cities, providing a review of the specific literature as contrasted with the international literature. The main conclusions indicate that the Spanish case is similar to that of other western countries. Thus, clear confirmation is found that the effects of agglomeration economies and the so-called metropolitan bias also prevail in Spain, together with dispersion patterns that, to a certain extent, favor particular small and medium cities. Furthermore, even though the literature on the use of culture for urban renewal is abundant, the same cannot be said for the economics of culture, where considerable research gaps persist, both in the geographical coverage of case studies and in the social or labor impacts of this economic model.

Keywords: cultural industries; creative industries; culture; small and medium-sized cities; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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