1
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering
Management of Built Environment
Cultural assets as a motor of development: the
case study of Reggio Calabria and its National
Archeological Museum
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Giulia Pesaro
Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dario Musolino
Student: Notaro Arianna
ID Number: 897837
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To my Father and my Mother,
because they gave me freedom
to fly with my feet firmly on the ground.
To my brother,
because I could not wish for a
travel companion better than him.
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Abstract
L’obiettivo di questa tesi è dimostrare come l’attività di valorizzazione di un bene culturale, possa contribuire in modo significativo alla crescita sociale ed economica del territorio in cui si colloca.
Analizzare il contesto territoriale in cui il bene è situato, diventa di fondamentale importanza nello sviluppo delle strategie di valorizzazione, nell’ottica di una imprescindibile connessione tra patrimonio culturale e tessuto urbano.
Un valido strumento di comprensione, in tal senso, è rappresentato dalla SWOT Analysis, i cui risultati forniscono un quadro chiaro dei punti di forza, di debolezza, delle opportunità e delle minacce relative all’area di riferimento. Ma in che modo investire su un bene culturale, in questo caso un museo, può contribuire alla rivitalizzazione e allo sviluppo del territorio?
Per rispondere a questa domanda, è necessario comprendere la natura del museo a cui si fa riferimento e la sua economia, oltre che costruire, sulla base di adeguati indicatori il modello urbano da approfondire e conoscere le normative che regolano il settore dei beni culturali.
Esaminati alcuni esempi nazionali (Firenze e i suoi Uffizi, Pompei e il Mart e Muse in Trentino), si è proceduto allo studio della città metropolitana di Reggio Calabria e del suo patrimonio culturale, in particolare il Museo Archeologico Nazionale e i celebri Bronzi di Riace.
Dunque, espletata una SWOT Analysis su Reggio Calabria, e realizzata un’intervista all’attuale direttore del MarRC, Carmelo Malacrino, i risultati indicano come la presenza di un bene culturale, seppur ben valorizzato, sia effettivamente volano di miglioramento solo nel caso in cui il tessuto urbano che lo circonda proceda di pari passo.
4 The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate how the activity of enhancing a cultural asset can contribute significantly to the social and economic growth of the territory in which it is located.
Analyzing the territorial context in which the property is situated, becomes of fundamental importance in the development of valorization strategies, with a view to an unavoidable connection between cultural heritage and urban fabric.
SWOT Analysis represents, in this sense, a valid instrument of understanding, whose results provide a clear picture of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the area of reference. However, how can investing in a cultural asset, in this case a museum, contribute to the revitalization and development of the territory? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the nature of the museum to which it refers and its economy, as well as to build, on the basis of adequate indicators, the urban model to be studied in depth and to know the regulations governing the cultural heritage sector.
After examining some national examples (Florence and its Uffizi, Pompei and the Mart and Muse in Trentino), we proceeded to study the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria and its cultural heritage, in particular the National Archaeological Museum and the famous Riace Bronzes.
Therefore, having completed a SWOT Analysis on Reggio Calabria, and conducted an interview with the current director of the MarRC, Carmelo Malacrino, the results indicate that the presence of a cultural asset, although well appreciated, is actually a driving force for improvement only in the event that the urban fabric that surrounds it goes hand in hand.
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Table of Contents
Introduction……… page 6 1 The role of culture in the socio-economic development of the territory…... page 7 1.1 What type of analysis can we undertake to understand the context in which we operate? ...page 10 1.2 Can the work on a museum contribute in revitalizing an urban environment? ...page 14
1.3 The phenomenon of cultural tourism ………...page 19 2 The legislation for the protection and valorization of cultural assets…………page 23 2.1 Rules and laws at the international level……….page 24 2.2 The National Legislation……….page 27 3 Focus on the best Practices: strengths and criticisms on cultural heritage as a resource for urban regeneration……….page 32 3.1 Our national examples...page 35 4 Reggio Calabria: center of culture and power in Magna Graecia………page 43
4.1 State, Trend, Response Indicators……….page 44 4.2 The Cultural Heritage………..page 48 5 The National Archeological museum of Reggio Calabria………..page 51 5.1 From birth to the arrival of the Bronzes………...page 52 5.2 The controversial question on the Riace Bronzes: from past until now…....page 54 5.3 Focus on the Riace Bronzes: extraordinary measures to renovate attraction towards this heritage...page 56 5.4 The transformations of recent years...page 59 6 SWOT Analysis on the City of Reggio Calabria...page 61 7 Interview to the museum director Carmelo Malacrino...page 65 Conclusions...page 68
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Introduction
Protecting a cultural asset is an activity designed to recognize, preserve and protect a heritage so that it can be offered to the knowledge and enjoyment of the public. In recent decades, however, protection has been accompanied by enhancement, an activity aimed at improving knowledge and the possibility of using the cultural heritage itself.
This thesis work aims to demonstrate, through a careful investigation on the city of Reggio Calabria and the Archaeological Museum present there, how cultural heritage can be a resource and a driving force for the development of a territory. In this sense, our country, rich in history and culture, presents different examples of how cultural resources and projects aimed at enhancing cultural heritage represent an invaluable source of human and economic growth. Therefore, it is necessary also to provide an overview of the European and national legislation that affects this delicate sector, in order to understand which safeguards and which constraints regulate their transformation.
Reggio Calabria, therefore, represents one of those territories that having not found a particular source of livelihood in the primary and secondary sector, try through tourism attracted by the museum to restart its economy. For a long time, the archaeological, artistic and cultural heritage has been underestimated and not received the necessary interventions for its conservation and enhancement. This has led to a downsizing of safeguard operations and a progressive marginalization of cultural resources.
Finally, we will try to establish whether a synergistic action between cultural assets, companies and creative skills that leads to a more responsible consumption of the cultural heritage of our country is possible. This is important not to risk the cultural degradation of our heritage and to understand how much the enhancement of cultural heritage is influenced by the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the territory that hosts it.
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The role of culture in the socio-economic development of the
territory
In the country that boasts the largest historical and artistic heritage in the world, museums, architecture and archaeological sites are defined as "development engines" even by those who do not fully understand how to create a growth program based precisely on them.
Culture, whether we like it or not, has become a real consumer good, also and above all thanks to the innovative digital technologies so popular in recent years. His demand is now globalized and every year hundreds of thousands of tourists invade Italy: this is therefore the time to address the use of our rich heritage, in a medium-long term perspective and economically sustainable. We need to identify a path, create an Italian cultural agenda and redefine the role of creativity for the well-being of the country. About forty years ago, the UNESCO Convention, on the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage of humanity (ratified by Italy with six years of delay), identified the principles on which this agenda should rely. It considered culture and creativity “levers of one sustainable development”, and has so far placed almost a thousand sites in 160 countries around the world under its protection, with the Italian record of 49 sites. Moreover, the EU strategy for growth, Europe 2020, provided a work plan for culture, which aims to enhance the cultural and creative potential of companies in various sectors. 1
Culture and creativity are synonymous with uniqueness, authenticity and non-ubiquity, but without an adequate and timely valorization, cultural heritage risks the same piracy that undermines food counterfeit products and brands. However, Italy still lags behind many countries, poorer in cultural sites and places of art but more effective in valorizing and ultimately make available to the public their own cultural assets.
In a context characterized by a complete maturation of the traditional sectors, from a price competition now almost unsustainable for our economy it is essential to seek
8 frontiers of unexplored markets to trigger new development processes. Several studies in recent years have tried to prove objectively that investments in culture generate benefit in various fields, including the economy.
The identity of a society is founded on culture awareness of human rights, democracy itself. It is a bridge between past and future, since without knowledge there can be no progress and the investments made to maintain, increase and spread knowledge are the basis of a society's well-being.
However, find tools, solutions and initiatives to improve the synergy capacities between public and private sector in using in a profitable and at the same time, sustainable way cultural heritage is not an easy task. Most cities are characterized by the presence of historians buildings under used or completely abandoned but who, however, are significant witnesses in the history and identity of local communities.
The goal for public administration is to promote models that outline the cooperation between public and private in the management of cultural heritage. These models must have as distinctive characters innovation, reliability and sustainability. It is important to highlight the centrality of environmental sustainability and sustainable development within the processes to release the more or less hidden potential of cultural heritage of the cities. This latent value is capable of triggering virtuous circles, which impact on:
the quality of life of citizens;
the capacity to involve and mobilize local communities; Also:
opportunities in the creative culture sector;
job opportunities and managerial skills of public and private subjects and professional figures involved in the process.
Moreover, if the assets are not adequately valued, they can become in a short time degraded spaces, also dangerous as a possible site of abuse and activity illegal or due to structural degradation, and must be forbidden to the public. Consequently, there is a double problem: of public order (urban security) and of physical redevelopment of the
9 heritage. Therefore, cities and local communities cannot other than benefit from asset recovery. 2
Cooperation and interdependence between sectors must be the key words with which open the way to an assessment of the "cultural" economic impact: to the contribution of culture to the added value deriving from the activities directly related economic resources must be added consequent to other activities connected upstream of the former.
The creative and cultural sectors have positive repercussions on others industries. It provides, for example, contents to the applications of the information and communication technologies, or feeds the demand for consumer electronics and communication tools sophisticated, it offers elements of attraction for the tourism sector, as well as substance for that of fashion and design and of Made in Italy in general. 3
Human landscapes - that is, the urban and rural landscapes - can be considered integral parts of the cultural heritage itself, that is, as common goods whose protection is essential to the collective well-being. Historic centers are among the most emblematic and identifying components of national cultural heritage. Beyond the great cities of art, in Italy also every village is characterized by the uniqueness of its historic core, which - when it is vital and well preserved - it represents in itself a wealth for the community that resides there and for the larger one, which in any case recognizes an identity value. The state of conservation of historic buildings is therefore of considerable importance in this dimension of well-being and represents an important indicator of the quality of life in urban contexts.4
The Cultural and Creative Production System, made by companies, PA and non-profit organizations, generates more than 92 billion euros and "activates" other sectors of the economy, reaching 255.5 billion, equivalent to 16.6% of the value national addition. They stimulate a figure that includes the value produced by the sectors in the sector,
2 See “LINEE GUIDA PER IL COINVOLGIMENTO DEI CITTADINI NEI PERCORSI DI VALORIZZAZIONE DEI BENI
APPARTENENTI AL PATRIMONIO STORICO CULTURALE”.
3 Florens 2010. L'economia dei beni culturali e ambientali. Una visione sistemica e integrata, European House
Ambrosetti.
10 but also of that part of the economy that benefits from culture and creativity and that, a starting with tourism. A wealth that is reflected positively also in employment: the only one Cultural and Creative Production System employs 1.5 million people, representing 6.1% of total employment in Italy. Overall, the cultural and creative production is a system with the plus sign: in 2017, it has produced a benefit of 2.0% higher. The number of employees is 1,520,000 with growth 1.6%, higher than that of the economy as a whole (+ 1.1%).
The analysis, made every year by Unioncamere and Symbola, clearly shows how much the "Italian system" owes to culture and creativity: 6.1% of the wealth produced in Italy, in 2017, amounting to over 92 billion euros. However, it does not end here: the Cultural and Creative Production System (SPCC) has a multiplier effect on the rest of the economy equal to 1.8. In other words, for every euro produced by the SPCC, 1.8 are activated in other sectors. Therefore, 92 billion and more, neither 'stimulate' another 163, to reach 255.5 billion altogether generated by the entire cultural chain; 16.6% of the national added value, with tourism as main beneficiary of this "flywheel effect". More than a third of national tourism spending, exactly 38.1% is activated precisely by culture and creativity.5
Unfortunately, not many tools are available to measure the effects of investments in cultural heritage in terms of economic benefits. It is due essentially the difficulty of identifying effective measurement methods and at the same time unique in the interpretation, in addition to the problematic nature of make the starting bases of the statistical analyzes homogeneous.
1.1
What type of analysis can we undertake to understand the
context in which we operate?
The Built Heritage may be identified as a portion of a territorial system that:
Has been or will be located in a territorial area and often added to other built heritage in a certain period;
11 Should be the result of the relationship between a demand and an offer for spaces/places where to host different uses and needs, from residential to commercial and productive activities which may be both private or public;
Is in a relationship with green and open spaces and natural environment inside and outside urban areas.
So before, we discuss about museums or cultural asset in general, we have to take a step back and look at the wider space, or rather, the territorial system in which it is inserted, to evaluate through specific analysis, which measures can or should be taken. The territorial systems in which built environment is located are complex because they are aggregates of territorial components (objects and subjects), each reflecting a function and/or a system of interests and action goals. Moreover, they are the results of a system of interactions and relationships among different territorial subjects and objects. Elements, which develop and overlap each other and them continuously, evolve with different and specific dynamics referring to the different territorial components. 6
Some aspects that played no significant role in the past have now become almost essential:
Sustainability. A word that carries a lot of meaning even if they cannot be clearly defined. In our case, the need for a different and more environmentally sound lifestyles. Globalization. In the past people had to worry about mostly local or regional problems, today, many problems are clearly global, and even most local or regional problems are rooted in global developments. Links between different areas are everyday short and faster.
Dynamics. Fully understanding the dynamic behavior would require building an accurate model of the system, because the human cognitive apparatus cannot realize all the components and info. The resources of a territory continuously change and so the production and consumption models and the development path.
Constraints. Some things are simply impossible, while others are extremely unlikely because they would be unacceptable to humans in the long run, given the intellectual
6 Analysis and evaluation of urban and territorial systems: “reading” territories and interpretative approaches, Slides
12 and psychological makeup of human beings. The system of existing goals, interests, ethics and behaviors, difficult to change limits the actions to undertake, so not every vision is accessible. 7
To understand how to map a future path, in order to enhance and implement a territory, it is, therefore, essential to analyze all the components and to reorganize data and information in a model for better interpretation and planning developments projects. The choice model to be used has to come from the consideration that cultural heritage is composed of tangible and intangible elements and for this reason, can be compared to natural heritage. For this reason we are going to use a STR model (State, Trend, Response Indicators), by adapting the more common PSR model (Pressure, State, Response indicators), generally used for environmental analysis. Indicators are chosen on their suitability and capacity to show the key factors of settlements.
State indicators (accessibility, quality of life, traditions, and touristic dynamics) offer information about current qualitative and quantitative conditions of heritage, territorial location, on its availability and usefulness for population. Each factor characterizing the landscape can be a State indicator: catalogued architectural elements, local savoir-faire, traditions, as well as the way people use heritage itself. Trend indicators (demographic index, employment rates, tourist presences, infrastructure and related services) provide information on elements influencing heritage in a negative way, reducing quality and availability, and in a positive way, increasing tourism and population.
Response indicators (local press, restaurants and commercial activities, public and private funds) provide information on existing, active resources and indications on potential resources needing incentive and guidance to be activated. Response indicators can be defined as the phenomena contributing to the reduction of pressure factors or, even, turn them into positive ones; in this way they contribute to inhabitants’ growing awareness on the importance and value of their local heritage.8
7 From Bossel H., Earth at a Crossroads, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998.
8 From “Indicators and SWOT Analysis”, Culturalp, Mariella Olivier, Tiziana dell’Olmo, Patrizia Borsotto, Maurizio
13 Once the model has been defined, we can run the so-called SWOT analysis, whose goal is the reading and interpretation of a territorial area- strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats. Through this particular method, it is possible to analyze, the territory on which we are operating and the built structure itself, in order to understand how the characteristics, the strengths and weaknesses of one interact or cancel those of the other.
SWOT Analysis is an analytical method, which is used to identify and categorize significant internal factors (i.e. strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (i.e. opportunities and threats) an organization faces. It provides information that is helpful in matching the firms’ resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates and is therefore an important contribution to the strategic planning process. It involves the collection and portrayal of information about internal and external factors that have, or may have, an impact on the evolution of an organization. It generally provides a list of an organization’s Strengths and Weaknesses as indicated by an analysis of its resources and capabilities, plus a list of Threats and Opportunities identified by an analysis of its environment.
Strategic logic requires that the future pattern of actions to be taken should match strengths with opportunities ward off threats and seek to overcome weaknesses.9
SWOT Analysis is an analysis technique that has a general perspective and presents general solutions. Details and specific issues are not the focus of SWOT Analysis, but the other analyses that would follow. In this sense, SWOT Analysis is a road map that guides one from the general to the specific. Moreover, it is an interactional analysis technique that makes macro evaluations possible. As an analysis tool, SWOT provides the opportunity to focus on positive and negative aspects of internal and external environment of the organization, in another words the elements in this environment that add plus and minus value, all together in a related perspective.
It also can help organizational managements to uncover opportunities to take advantage. By understanding weaknesses, threats can be managed and eliminated. To
14 examine an organization and its competitors through SWOT Analysis, strategies that help distinguish a company from competitors can be formulated.
SWOT Analysis forms a thinking model for organizational managements as an approach and analysis technique. This model gives one the opportunity to limit the agenda in the steps of information gathering and interpretation, and shows the points that the decisions are based on. In other words, SWOT Analysis prepares the substructure for strategic decisions.10
Finally, results of SWOT Analysis need to be interpreted to formulate suitable sustainable intervention policies.
1.2
Can the work on a museum contribute in revitalizing an urban
environment?
Nowadays, a museum is an institution called to play a very specific role that consists in being a permanent organization at the service of society and its development. Reaching this goal implies carrying out a plurality of activities, which go from the conservation of the tangible and intangible heritage of which a museum is the depository to its enhancement; more specifically, the definition cited refers to the following types of action: acquisition, conservation, research, communication and exposure. It is clear how these activities should be carried out in their entirety, in the sense that a museum - to be recognized (and therefore qualified) as such - cannot do without carrying on, with the same intensity, each one of them. What the museum offers is indeed a "complex" service, whose constituent elements must mutually support each other, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the entire offer system.11
The functions of the contemporary museum are the following:
acquisition / recovery function, intended as a continuous increase of works and artifacts, not like the random accumulation of objects that characterized the
10 Gurel E., Tat M., Swot Analysis: a theoretical review, The Journal of International Social Research, 2017. 11 “Il Museo in ascolto, Nuove strategie di comunicazione per musei statali”, Ludovico Solima, Rubbettino Editore,
15 princely collections, but activities aimed at the development of scientific knowledge;
conservation function, which concerns the museum's obligation to guarantee the integrity and availability of the collections to meet the educational and scientific needs of the community. This function has also changed over time, since it considers not only the conservation of materials in the museum, but also the preservation of the territory and the city of which the museum is an integral part. he conservation function must be distinguished from the protection function, i.e. from the activity aimed at protecting the cultural property, reserved exclusively to the State, which therefore exercises powers of control and authorization over the use and modification of the status of the assets themselves and, sometimes, on their circulation and export.
management / enhancement function, which consists of promoting knowledge of the cultural heritage and ensuring the best conditions of use and public use; scientific research function, which is expressed by reconstructing the historical
context that produced the object in question, making it alive, testimony of a past or present civilization. In this way the object acquires an added informative value, which allows museums to be made places of cultural production rather than simple conservation;
function of cultural dissemination, which concerns the process of socialization of knowledge and in which teaching - especially aimed at schools - has a fundamental role;
finally, the educational and entertainment function is undoubtedly the characterizing element of the contemporary museum, allowing the cultured and the less educated, the child and the adult to enjoy the same knowledge at different levels.12
They also have a social responsibility towards the territorial community of reference and this responsibility is linked to the specificities of the institution and its mission. The museum, in order to exercise its social function, must necessarily be in an "open" and "listening" position towards the community; must question the own role and rethink
12 Breda M.G., Formazione e ruolo degli operatori museali e turistici per un piano di rilancio del museo, Università
16 its function to effectively interact with current events, characterized by elements of complexity and dynamism. Among the "new frontiers" of museum education, addressing citizens of other cultures engages the museum in actions complex, experimental in nature, to achieve accessibility also for those who have stories, training, languages and codes not yet shared.13
As previously announced, they have a considerable economic impact, as a magnet for tourist flows and more generally, the public, if properly managed and valued. Substantial amounts of money are spent when visiting museums both in terms of entry fees and in terms of expenditures in museum restaurants and shops. The visitors have a strong effect on local economies, especially in touristic locations. Not surprisingly, therefore, more and more museums are founded usually in spectacular new buildings.14
Moreover, there are many different types of museums. It is useful to distinguish four aspects:
1. Content. Most importantly art, historical artifacts, scientific objects, and many other exhibits of general and sometimes very specific interest;
2. Size. Some museums occupy a huge amount of space, employ a large number of staff and have many thousands of visitors per day; others are of only local interest, are small, with very restricted opening hours, are run by a amateur staff, and have few visitors;
3. Age. There are museums with a long and distinguished history while others are newly founded;
4. Institutional form. Traditionally, European museums have been public, even forming part of the normal government administration. However, there have always been private museums. Most museums lie somewhere in between public and private. Thus, for instance, almost all private museums receive some form of government subsidy, often by contributing of donors exempt from taxes.
13 “La funzione educativa del museo e del patrimonio culturale: una risorsa per promuovere conoscenze, abilità e
comportamenti generatori di fruizione consapevole e cittadinanza attiva. Gli ambiti di problematicità e le raccomandazioni per affrontarli.” Commissione “Educazione e mediazione” ICOM Italia, Novembre 2009.
14 Frey B.S., Meier S., The economics of museums, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich,
17 However, all museums share some particularities and similar functions. 15 As we said,
most arts and culture institutions like museums, are experimenting with creative strategies that allow them to leverage their resources toward driving community revitalization. Nevertheless, bringing anchor institutions and community organizations together to create a focused mission, the community has to be involved. Successful community development is a four-step recipe: Build trust, start small, stay focused and seek diverse partners.
How does a cultural asset engage in public service? Before it can begin to address issues of social or economic concern, it first has to determine what issues are affecting the local community. Issues of education, social inclusion, economic disenfranchisement, and teen drug use might be relevant to many communities, of all regions and demographics. However, this initial research must be undertaken; communication with other community leaders will provide museum staff with a range of issues facing the community, allowing museum leaders to ascertain which issues might best be addressed in light of the museum's own mission statement and resources. What does the community want? What does the community need? Moreover, what are the scale and scope of resources, both financial as well as human, the asset can depend upon in order to embark upon the necessary community collaborations that will be required in these endeavors?16
Whether a city has experienced decades of economic decline due to local or regional industry shifts, inner-city drug and crime escalation, or an unexpected natural disaster leaving unforeseen widespread damage, cities across the country face problems of urban decay. Urban regeneration, in these cases, is concerned not only with economic growth and viability, but in creating a positive self-image for a city of residents who may have begun to feel the sting of years of economic and, in turn, societal disintegration. Cultural institutions, including museums, are at the center of many city revitalization programs,
15 Frey B.S., Meier S., The economics of museums, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich,
2003.
16 “Culture-led city brands as economic engines: theory and empirics”, The Annals of Regional Science, Beatriz Plaza,
18 in part owing to the recent phenomena known as the Bilbao Effect, whereby large urban flagship museums have come as driver for economic growth.17
In this view, it is also important to introduce the concept of “Economics of Museums”. Museums may be looked at as an economic unit, or a firm providing certain services. One then analyses the relationship between the input (exhibits, manpower etc.) and output in terms of revenue gained. Moreover, the effect of museums on the economy is analyzed, e.g. how much employment and what value added is created in other sectors. The economics of museums thus clearly distinguishes itself from other approaches to studying museums, in particular the sociology of museums or the art historic points of view. The economic approach to museums may rely on standard or rational choice theory (neoclassical economics). Individuals are then taken to be completely rational and selfish, and the analysis focuses on market relationships assumed to function well. With respect to institutions, in the context of museums it is crucial to go beyond the market. Political economy (public choice) analyses the behavior of governments and public administrations greatly affecting museums through their subsidies and taxes, but also through a web of regulations.18
Nevertheless, change must begin with new attitudes of openness and transparency. It is time to rethink the assumption that classical collections must continue to grow. In recent years, international cultural property laws, new professional standards and shifting public opinion have made the legal and ethical acquisition of Greek and Roman art nearly impossible.
“Museum storerooms are also full of fascinating mistakes.”19 Fresh perspectives on how
classical art is presented would be equally welcome. Going into detail, museums often display photographs of archaeologists and conservators at work to explain how ancient objects end up in museum cases. Brightly painted plaster casts are installed alongside
17 “Museums for urban regeneration? Exploring conditions for their effectiveness”, Journal of Urban Regeneration and
Renewal, Beatriz Plaza, Silke N. Haarich, January 2009.
18 Frey B.S., Meier S., The economics of museums, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich,
2003.
19 marble sculptures to show that ancient statuary was not pure white—a myth that has given comfort to white supremacists for centuries.
By contrast, archeological museums, offer minimalist labels with basic descriptions, biographical facts about the subject or clichés about lost Greek originals. There is rarely any discussion of how the objects were found, how they came to the museum or how opinions about them have changed over time—let alone any whiff of controversy or debate.
This is a loss, as these are often the most revealing stories these objects can tell. Indeed, the gap between the information offered in the labels and the often-provocative history of the antiquities is so great that would be a very interesting initiative to create a group of people to offer its own tours, drawing attention to the details the museum leaves out. Upgraded educational facilities are also important in this project. Creation of classrooms, where arts’ students or even normal visitors can learn something about painting, drawing or art, in general, would be surely appreciated by the community. Many museums are also undoubtedly responding to changes in the reasons people visit museums. They attend cultural performances or museum exhibitions to socialize with friends and family, others hope to learn new things, and finally, some want to support their communities.
The pendulum has swung from the museum as passive temple to the museum as active space, from a treasure box to a toolbox. Today’s audiences are no longer looking for a cold ‘white cube’ museum experience. Instead, they crave warmer, shared experiences.
1.3
The phenomenon of cultural tourism
Travel and tourism have turned into an industry in continuous evolution, able to influence positively the growth of the Gross National Product.
Cultural tourism "represents all those movements of people motivated by goals cultural events such as study holidays, participation in live shows, festivals, cultural events, visits to archaeological sites and monuments, pilgrimages ... is the need of people to deal with diversity, to increase the level of knowledge, generate new experiences and
20 new encounters "(WTO, 1985). It is a very branch important of the tourism phenomenon in general, which has seen a strong increase in the last few years.
The question of culture and the desire to enjoy record a continuous increase in the public of the whole world, including Italy, and the sectors linked to the cultural offer see above-average growth prospects firmly anchored in the reach of great value of heritage. The demand for cultural tourism has changed profoundly over the last twenty years, with the development of new motivations and trends. Today, tourists have greater spending capacity, are more interested in the culture of their own territory and of others places, have very different needs and are less invasive for the community local. There is a greater interest in new active forms of cultural consumption: it goes beyond the simple and mere visit to museums and monuments and instead provide for the participation in events and initiatives. Changes in demand requirements, together with the spread of low-cost flights favored the emergence of destinations relatively new compared to the historical ones.20
Cultural tourism has important repercussions on economic and employment aspects, highlighting the value of cultural activity and its specific contribution to cohesion social, regional identity and community development in the urban context. From about twenty years, urban tourism has also experiencing a formidable return of interest characterized by appreciable growth. No doubt, this is due to the combination of various factors such as the process of valorization and reorganization of the historical city centers, the expansion and diversification of cultural activities, the consistent increase in consumer interest in assets and urban planning, animation research and new entertainment opportunities. The offer was articulated not only based on the evolution of visitors' needs in terms of activity and leisure, but also thanks to the increasingly determined will of the competent administrations in promoting tourism as a strategic axis of socio-economic development, a driver of wealth and employment.
21 The European Union has recognized the existence of a close functional link between the policies of economic and social cohesion and the role of culture, focusing on particular attention to the large capacity of employment it has for Young people.21
To promote cultural tourism, it is necessary orienting the programming action towards processes that include, in cultural policy, objectives not only related to protection but also to enhancement and promotion. This is possible focusing on interventions able to put to "System" all the human resources, tangible and intangible available, on models of unified and integrated management of the cultural, tourist and environmental heritage of a territory.
The "cultural tourists" visit cafes, restaurants and fast-food restaurants that are reported same as monuments; they go to fashionable clubs and at the same time visit archaeological areas and historic centers; they look for charming hotels and farmhouses, visit wineries and enjoy traditional cuisine like spells of urban life, because conventional destinations coexist with ones that are more informal.
Museums face a very competitive market: the best-known have always attracted a vast flow of tourists, while the lesser-known ones must increase their visibility, offer benefit, and have adequate answers, which are obtained especially with the organization of quality events, the key element to differentiate yourself from the competition.22
For the unmistakable scent of culture to be a real attraction, however, it is necessary that every molecule in the composition, that every particle that allows its formation, be carefully treated. The sense of smell of tourists, in fact, seems to have been ready for centuries to capture the presence of culture and to give the right importance in their travel plans.
Precisely for this reason, precisely because it has always had a prominent role in the tourist panorama almost without a struggle, here is that the cultural heritage has turned in on itself, leaving issues of extreme importance regarding its management to take second place.
21 Dossier, “II turismo culturale: nuovi orientamenti di sviluppo economico-sociale”, Presentazione a cura di Mario
Resca, Direttore generale per la valorizzazione del Patrimonio Culturale , MiBac, 2010.
22 Today things have changed. The market is more competitive and Italy risks remaining at the stake. However, something is beginning to move. Although late, just to give an example, they are beginning to use new technologies for the benefit of tourism and culture.
Culture, in tourism, sells because it gives a value that cannot be bought. Traveling is learning to look at the world with new eyes and admiring works of art, taking part in shows and fully enjoying a different culture from one's own, it means precisely allowing one's eyes to discover the immense value of the ability to take points of view always new. The immaterial value of cultural assets, in order to be transformed into an economic resource through tourism, must know how to sell itself, managing to make its inestimable value clear. Tourists must be guided through the wonderful meanders of the cultural heritage of a tourist destination. Avoiding, among other things, putting unnecessary obstacles or barriers between visitors and cultural heritage.
The formation of an adequate tourist offer passes through the construction of the profile of the typical client and the creation of a presentation of artistic and cultural peculiarities that honors their beauty. Without forgetting to look at the various elements of the artistic heritage as a cultural universe in continuous formation, in which the organization of the various planets can always be reworked according to the needs of tourists. 23
23 See the article “Il turismo culturale può e deve giocare un ruolo di primo piano”, on
23
2 The legislation for the protection and valorization of cultural
assets
“The protection and enhancement of the cultural heritage contribute to preserving the memory of the national community and its territory and to promote development of culture".24
The protection, development and dissemination of cultural assets, activities and values are necessarily at the center of the objectives of civil, social and economic growth. Cultural heritage is first a heritage to be protected if it is ancient and precious, and "only then" is a resource that can be exploited. Valorization methods must therefore meet specific requirements in terms of guaranteeing protection and conservation. Before listing some regulations and legislation, at international and national level, for the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage, it is useful to make a distinction between conservation and valorization:
“The conservation of cultural heritage is ensured through a consistent, coordinated and planned study, prevention, maintenance and restoration. For prevention, we mean the complex of activities suitable for limiting the situations of risk connected with the cultural property in its context. Maintenance means the set of activities and activities interventions destined to the control of the conditions of the cultural good and to the maintenance of integrity, functional efficiency and identity of well and its parts. Restoration means direct intervention on the asset through a series of operations aimed at material integrity and al recovery of the same asset, to the protection and transmission of its own cultural values "25. Therefore, conservation falls in the
protection activities.
“The valorization activity consists in the performance of the functions and in the discipline of activities aimed at promoting the knowledge of cultural heritage and to ensure the best conditions of use and use public of the heritage itself; it also includes promotion and support for cultural heritage conservation interventions."26 Moreover,
valorization activities can be grouped into four major areas: 1) promotion and support
24 Art. 1, Codice dei Beni Culturali, D. Lgs. 42/2004. 25 Art. 29 Codice dei Beni Culturali, D. Lgs. 42/2004.
24 of conservation interventions; 2) promotion of knowledge of the good; 3) activities to make the asset more easily usable and usable by the public; 4) development of production and commercial activities related to heritage and territory.27
2.1
Rules and laws at the international level
The duty of the State to defend its cultural heritage derives not only from national legislation but also from international conventions.
International law in the last fifty years concerning cultural heritage has seen a development constantly carried out by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), organization founded in 1945 with the aim of promoting peace and understanding between peoples through education, science, culture, communication and information. Its ultimate aim is the promotion of universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for human rights and fundamental freedoms defined by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the United Nations. This organization has helped promote numerous multilateral treaties that have come to give a more precise definition of the concept of "cultural heritage".
From this, it follows that the current legislation appears to be rather articulated, complex, and composed of not only regulations and laws, but above all of international conventions and agreements signed, over the years, by European and non-European States.28
These legislative texts are mandatory only for the national states that have contributed to produce them as well as those that subsequently intend to submit to them. The Italian State has decided to submit to the application of some international conventions as if they were normative texts produced independently from Italy.
International law for cultural heritage is characterized both by conventions international organizations dealing with the direct protection of cultural assets, both from other treaties and indirectly they influence the discipline. These include the
27 Tonon Leda, Il turista protagonista della valorizzazione del patrimonio locale, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, 2013. 28 S. Pons, La Tutela Internazionale dei Beni Culturali, 2016.
25 founding agreements of international organizations such as UNESCO (United Nations Organization for education, science and culture), which has played both a role of recommendation to states and promoter of international conventions for the protection of cultural heritage, prevention and repression of illicit traffic.
In Europe, it is the Council of Europe, the most committed organization among states to supporting international cooperation, directing them to regulate the protection of cultural assets in a complete manner. In the legislative system of the European Community, there is no definition of cultural heritage. It is therefore necessary to refer to those assets that are classifiable as assets in Italian law cultural. Community legislation is relevant for cultural assets under more than one profile.
First, the rules on the circulation of goods in the Community’s space must be remember. In this regard, the internal market discipline aims to ensure free circulation of goods between member countries.
Article 30 of the EC Treaty places an exception to the rules on free movement of goods. It allows states to adopt trade restrictive measures based on «justified reasons of public morality, public order, and public health protection of the life of people and animals or the preservation of plants for the protection of artistic, historical or heritage national archaeological or protection of industrial or commercial property ".
Without this rule, it would be legitimate to export a cultural good of great national or local significance to another EU country. Moreover, in the supranational sphere, the special regime of the circulation of cultural goods is widely guaranteed: they do not fall within the scope 33 of the World Trade Organization - OMC (Article XX, letter f, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade).
A ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Communities of 1968 known as "art objects" has confirmed the position of the Community in relation to the assets included in the cultural heritage of the States. Since the Italian State imposed an export tax on objects of artistic, historical, archaeological and ethnographic interest in the other Member States, claiming that it was a measure to protect cultural heritage, the Court
26 has denied that this was the purpose of the tax and that instead it was a clear violation of the Treaty provisions.29
Due to the changes made to the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which included a special title dedicated to Culture, the community action has acquired the task of "Integrating the action of Member States in the conservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage of European importance "(art.151). However, there is no provision for harmonizing the internal state regulations in this field; interventions in the cultural field are the consequence of the cultural implication of other subjects.
This does not mean that the interventions of the European institutions have been highlighted both at the level of action programs in cultural policies, as well as recovery of illegally exported assets within and outside the European Union.
Article 151 of the EC Treaty allows an incisive action in this sector by providing the issuing of a wide range of interventions today unified within the program called "Culture 2000". As accompanying measures to the completion of the internal market EU issued the two complementary acts analyzed below.
With the regulation, CEE 3911/92 a preventive control is expected on the exit of cultural goods from the community territory, verifying that the asset has the license of export. It must be said that the authorization to export is not an obligation for the State, it is not in fact affected the ability to define the categories of its national heritage. The regulation states that the authorization can be denied, “If the cultural assets are covered by a legislation that protects the national heritage with historical, archaeological value, in the Member State concerned”.
With Directive 93/7 / EEC, the European Community has equipped itself with a tool to allow the return of cultural property unlawfully removed from the territory of a State. The judge with the claim for restitution will have to make sure that it is a cultural asset according to the definition of the directive itself: qualified as such, before or after the exit from the territory of a Member State, pursuant to national legislation or laws national administrative procedures pursuant to art. 36 C.E. Treaty. The judge grants a fair compensation to the owner in good faith of the asset that has to be returned. The
29 “Tutelare e conservare il nostro passato: i beni culturali nel diritto internazionale” on
27 requesting Member State will pay the compensation upon return of the good, except then to claim on the person responsible for the illegitimate exit of the asset from its territory.30
2.2
The National Legislation
The legislation on cultural heritage was born in Tuscany with the adoption of some measures at the beginning of the sixteenth century. In 1571, the removal of signs and inscriptions from ancient palaces was forbidden, while in 1602 it was definitively banned, by a decision of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to export the paintings without a license issued by the lieutenant of the drawing academy. Tuscany in the post-renaissance age enjoyed a position of absolute avant-garde with respect to all the other Italian states, thanks also to the policy of conservation and safeguarding of artistic assets adopted by the Medici.
After the Unification of Italy, the legislation for the protection of cultural assets did not improve at all, with the presence of a strong dispersion of cultural heritage and the refusal by the ruling class of the era of any binding discipline of cultural heritage. The art. 29 of the Albertine Statute clearly exposed the nineteenth-century liberal ideology, in fact it states that "all properties, without exception are inviolable", the governmental class did not go beyond the recognition of the ancient principle of respect for the "ornament of the city", understood as a prohibition of transformation or demolition of urban buildings, if of great artistic value.
In 1865, a law sanctioned the faculty of the administration to order the expropriation of the monuments, if sent to ruin due to negligence of the owners.
To arrive at an organic regulation on the matter, we must wait for the adoption of the law n. 431, July 1904, which established the national catalog of cultural assets and prohibited the export of works of great value. The entry into force of law June 20, 1909, n. 364 (c.d. law Rosadi) repealed the aforementioned law.
28 During the nineties, the need for a new discipline of cultural heritage was born, thanks also to community sources, the reg. Cee 9 December 1992, n. 3911, regulating exports outside the European Union or the dir. Cee March 15, 1993, n. 7, concerning the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State.
In 1997, the law n. 352 delegated the government to adopt a single text on the subject of cultural and environmental assets, constituting Sibec (Italian Society for Cultural Heritage) a corporation with the aim of promoting and supporting projects aimed at restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage.
We have to wait until 1999, for the adoption of a Consolidated Law on cultural heritage, introduced with the legislative decree October 29th, n. 490.
The relevant consequences on the distribution of competences, derived from the reform of Title V of the Constitution, approved with law n. cost. October 18, 2007, n. 3, from the assignment of the concurrent legislation of the regions of the cultural heritage valorization functions (art. 117, co. 3, cost.), to the provision of forms of understanding and center-peripheral coordination in the matter of the protection of cultural heritage (art 118. Co. 3, cost.).31
Finally, legislative decree no. 42/2004 introduces the new code for Cultural and Landscape Heritage. For the first time we come to give a definition of cultural heritage, in fact, Article 2 states that:
1. Cultural heritage and landscape assets made up Cultural heritage.
2. Real estate and movable objects are cultural assets, which, pursuant to articles 10 and 11, present artistic, historical, archaeological, ethno-anthropological, archival and bibliographic interest and other things identified by law or according to the law as testimonials having the value of civilization.
3. The buildings and the areas indicated in article 134 are landscape assets, constituting an expression of the historical, cultural, natural, morphological and aesthetic values of the territory, and the other assets identified by law or based on the law.
29 4. The assets of the cultural heritage of public belonging are intended for the use of the community, compatibly with the needs of institutional use and as long as there are no grounds for protection.
The last change to the code (Legislative Decree No. 42/2004) amended with two legislative decrees approved definitively by the Council of Ministers on March 19th,
2008: Legislative Decree no. 62/2008 and Legislative Decree no. 63/2008, published in the G.U. n. 84 of 9th April 2008 and effective from 24th April. The two provisions deal,
respectively, with the subject of cultural heritage (Legislative Decree No. 62/2008) and that of landscape assets (Legislative Decree No. 63/2008). The first, which concerns cultural heritage, provides for the coordination of national regulations with EU provisions (EU) and international agreements (such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention) to achieve more effective circulation control of the 'things' of historical, artistic and ethno-anthropological interest belonging to the cultural heritage, specifying that they are not traceable or comparable to 'goods'.
The export offices of the Superintendence are in charge of evaluating, even immediately when private owners or auction houses submit to their highly professional officials, whether to issue the certificate of free circulation.
The second decree, on the other hand, concerns the changes in the landscape, whose definition is firstly revised: "Landscape means the expressive territory of identity, whose character derives from the action of natural, human factors and their interrelations" (art. 2). The notion that emerges is a fair compromise between the definition contained in the "European Landscape Convention" (Florence, 20 October 2000) and the indications provided by the Constitutional Court with sentence 14 November 2007 n. 367. The general direction is to strengthen the protection of the landscape at various levels.32
After that, the Presidential Decree 2 July 2009 n. 91, published in the ordinary supplement to the G.U. 164 of 17 July 2009, established the new regulation for the reorganization of the Ministry and organization of the offices of direct collaboration of the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities. This Decree, based on measures of
32 Legislazione dei beni culturali e del paesaggio, Nozioni Essenziali, II Edizione, Edizioni Simone, a cura del dott.
30 greater rationalization, efficiency and economy of the Public Administration, introduced significant innovations aimed at enhancing the action of protection, enhancement and use of the national cultural heritage and at the same time restores centrality to the preservation of the landscape in the more general context of the fine arts. In fact, one of the main new features is the establishment of the General Directorate for the enhancement of Cultural Heritage, which will allow greater incisiveness in the promotion and development of this sector, with the aim of guaranteeing greater know ability and usability of cultural heritage. The establishment of the General Directorate for Landscape, Fine Arts, Architecture and Contemporary Art is also important.
In 2013, the Letta government entrusted the competences of tourism to the Ministry, which thus assumes the current name of Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, and Tourism (Article 1, paragraph 2 and 3 of the LAW 24 June 2013, n. 71 published in the Official Gazette No. 147 of 25 June 2013, entered into force on 26 June 2013). From 21 October 2013, the Office for Tourism Policies moves from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities, and Tourism. Since 11 December 2014, the D.P.C.M. August 29, 2014, n. 171, containing the new organization regulation of the Ministry of cultural assets and activities, of the offices of the direct collaboration of the Minister and the independent Performance Evaluation Body, is in force. Moreover, with the Ministerial Decree 43 of 23/01/2016, the amendments to the decree of 23 December 2014 concerning "Organization and functioning of state museums" are effective.
On 26 March 2016, the Ministerial Decree 44 of 01/23/2016 comes into effect. With the reform the main state museums have become autonomous institutions, where the directors, identified through international tenders, act according to the most modern and current criteria of museum management. Otherwise, the numerous institutes present in the territory, each guided by an official, are coordinated by the 17 regional museum centers in a constant and progressive dialogue with the civic and diocesan museum networks to make the widespread heritage of which our territories are rich to the advantage of citizenship. The reform unifies the protection responsibilities in the Superintendence for Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, increasing the coverage in
31 the territory whose distribution has been defined taking into account the number of inhabitants, the consistency of the cultural heritage and the territorial extension.33
32
3 Focus on the best practices: strengths and criticisms on cultural
heritage as a resource for urban regeneration.
The Italian cultural heritage, even if experienced as the symbol of a prestigious past for a long time,did not play an active role in social and economic development. Only in the last few decades, its unlimited economic potential has been understood. The best quality of our country is the capillarity with which works of art and architecture are distributed throughout its territory. This feature allows us to arrive at a unique continuity of its kind. Italy as a nation is rich in what are termed latent cultural assets: works unknown and not adequately exploited. In the case of finds, for example, they have not merely a scientific value, but also an immediate economic impact, as they increase the value of the site where they were found and the possibility of exploiting that territory.
Often, especially in the last decade, big cities are been remodeled following major cultural events or events sports-cultural, taking advantage of the opportunity to use and enhance their "obvious cultural assets" and / or the opportunity to organize major sporting or political events. Even the small cities and, more generally, the urban centers of limited dimensions, can use for development purposes and urban enhancement their cultural assets (certainly not the possibility to organize major sporting or political events) what we have called before latent cultural assets. As we said, the structure of cultural heritage in Italy is not identified in everything and for everything with a collection of great museums and a few large ones monuments: its specific character consists of ubiquity and dissemination of assets.34
In addition, culture, in lot of national examples, is the first recipients to generate identity and cohesion, so that the spinal column of the community is strengthened: without this assumption is unthinkable to export values and knowledge and try to derive an economic utility from it. The best result of an effective cultural investment policy is certainly a high degree of involvement of the population where enrichment staff generates skills and professionalism intended for economic growth. Also, the structural and infrastructural strengthening of the cities is essential: to avoid the risk of
33 marginalization, cities must build great works and communication networks in the sense that competitiveness is as high as higher it results the possibility to include, within the city, poles structures characterized by a high degree of relatedness. Today, more than ever, urban environments are the future of competitiveness of the territories as they are privileged incubators of the training, innovation and, therefore, development.35
Moreover, in order to make a development project sustainable and workable economic starting from the cultural field it is necessary to understand how much categories identified at a theoretical and empirical observation level succeed to reflect the specific reality of a territory. Both the general definitions of cultural industries and creative industries are analyzed relating to strategic areas of industrial innovation have been used to make an initial investigation of the professions, gods trades and business activities in the area. From this, it is resulted in a new subdivision of the entrepreneurial activities it holds account both of the competences present in the territory and of areas of economic application not included in other analyzes.
The economic debate on cultural heritage has long indicated the weak point of the Italian system: much attention and much technical expertise on scientific protection issues e conservation, low priority and backwardness of models organizational issues on the problems of exploitation and management. The policies of introducing innovative forms of management of cultural heritage set the goal of stimulating growth and efficiency. Moreover, it is important to incentivize the private sector participation in the financing of investments in culture and in the cultural offer, in an attempt to making the most of non-obvious assets, for the most part located in small towns that do not have the economic strength of enhance their heritage, which remains non-evident. It is in pursuing these qualitative goals, as well as quantitative, that public action can usefully meet and cooperate with market action, orienting policies to economic-urban development.36
35 The Social and Economic Value of Cultural Heritage: literature review by Cornelia Dümcke and Mikhail Gnedovsky,
EENC Paper, July 2013
36 N. Bonacasa - C. Costanzo (a cura di), Gestione, valorizzazione e promozione dei Beni Culturali. Esperienze a
34 Another efficient tool to make known a cultural asset is through social channels. Italian museums are still not digitized enough due to back office activities: 32% do not have any computerized system to support administrative and back office activities, such as purchasing or personnel management. As for analysis and monitoring activities, 36% have customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management software (managed independently or in common with other institutions) and the same percentage has software for reporting. If cultural institutions seem to have understood that the road to the future can only pass from a better digitalization of activities, few still have equipped themselves with a clear and structured strategy linked to digital with a consequent adequate investment plan and the introduction and development of digital skills. 37
Based on the above, we will now try to tell three of the countless national realities, to understand how the museum model affects managerial difficulties and how the characteristics of the urban fabric that surrounds it contribute to its success or not through the already discussed method of SWOT Analysis. The three examples differ in terms of content, size, age and institutional form, which as we have already seen in the previous paragraphs identify different types of museum, so as to have a broader view on the elements that unite or separate realities with such different connotations.Have been taken into consideration:
1. one of the most famous cities in Italy, Florence and its Uffizi Gallery, therefore an urban constellation dotted with works of art that Marino has defined as evident cultural assets, a city that has been managing and benefiting from its cultural heritage for some time;
2. one of the largest and most visited archaeological sites in Europe, Pompei, which due to the vastness of its spaces and the amount of visitors requires certainly a much more complex management activity, than a museum in its most classical sense; 3. finally the Mart and the Muse in Trentino, two innovative realities in development
that represent the rediscovery of the latent cultural heritage mentioned above, and that should be better valued as well as safeguarded.
37 Digitization of Cultural Heritage and Business Model Innovation: The Case of the Uffi zi Gallery in Florence, Luciana
