Cultural Dynamism and Business Vitality in Medium-Sized Cities—Evidence and Proposals for Sustainable Development

Ana Isabel Escalona-Orcao, Belén Sánchez-Valverde García, Cruz Navarro-Pérez Mª, Mariola Pinillos-García and Alberto Conejos-Sevillano
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Ana Isabel Escalona-Orcao: Departamento de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Belén Sánchez-Valverde García: Departamento de Métodos Estadísticos, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Cruz Navarro-Pérez Mª: Departamento de Economía y Empresa, Universidad de La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain
Mariola Pinillos-García: Departamento de Economía y Empresa, Universidad de La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain
Alberto Conejos-Sevillano: Asociación para el Desarrollo y Fomento de las Cinco Villas, 50600 Ejea de los Caballeros, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-29

Abstract: This work uses tools recently designed to conduct analyses and proposals around the cultural development of medium-sized cities. The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor model, or CCCM, is first applied to the 81 cities in Spain with between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. We also refer to the UNESCO Culture/2030 Indicators, specifically indicator 8 (Cultural companies), to investigate whether cultural dynamism is related to business vitality in those cities. Our observation of the 29 CCCM indicators and the C3 index, which synthesizes cultural performance, is explained, and these data are complemented with cultural business data (on assets, benefits, and jobs) from a sample of 13,204 firms. The C3 index values reveal significant differences in the cultural and creative performance of the selected cities according to their location (metropolitan or non-metropolitan) and their administrative rank. Moreover, when comparing the C3 index with the indicators on business activity, evidence indicates a clear positive relationship between cultural dynamism and firm vitality. These results support the contribution of culture to the sustainable development of medium-sized Spanish cities and further establish the suitability of the tools used to assist cities in designing appropriate cultural policies.

Keywords: cultural and creative ecosystems; medium-sized cities; Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor; UNESCO Culture/2030 Indicators; cultural business; cultural sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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