DEFFNER A, METAXAS T (2006)

The Interrelationship of Urban Economic and Cultural Development: The Case of Greek Museums.

University of Thessaly, Department of Planning and Regional Development: Discussion Paper Series, 12(4): 57-82.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the paper is the pinpointing of the role and importance of museums in the cultural and economic development of cities. The starting point is a critical analysis of the international, mainly European, experience of the last decade. This analysis constitutes the basis of the attempt to respond to three fundamental questions: a) in what ways, and with what means, is museum management connected with the effective promotion and support of the ‘cultural image’ of the cities? b) in what ways is the effective promotion and support of the ‘cultural image’ connected with the construction of a competitive advantage for the particular city and its sustainable development? and c) does the ‘selling of the cultural identity’ of cities constitute an imperative need or a necessary evil that the cities cannot avoid in both cases?. The main hypotheses that are going to be tested are the enforcement by the tools of planning and management of the conditions of sustainability and competitiveness, and the contribution of their use to the increasing role of museums in the cultural and economic development of cities. The paper concludes with the case of public Greek museums through the presentation of a secondary data analysis and a first elaboration, based on portrait statistics, of the data of a questionnaire distributed to museum managers and executives.