Cultural Heritage and the City - week2

[Anna-V]

I've done with another week of FutureLearn. And I've got some more items to put down here.

More?

It's good to mention (though that's not surpricing) that government doesn't equal governance. When we talk about cultiral heritage issues we mean first of all governance, though government is also quite important here.

Governance deals with interaction, regulation and negotiation.
Hereitage governance shoud be multileveled, interrelated with other fields, include opportunity for community participation.

National organizations nowadays are very important though they CANNOT impose their decisions on local authorities.
Worl of national organizations is based on 1) the assumption that the notion of cultural heritage is universal; 2) by supporting the heritage of a community that goes beyond national bondaries.

Cultural heritage development may demand changes (and also influence) the educational sector, the transortation sector, the sector of tourism.

Cities can themselves apply for funds and programs provided by the state, national organizations, regional governments, in order to protect their (cities') heritage.

From the point of view of economy cultural heritage should be always viewed not as a cost but as an investment.
Cultural heritage 1. increases city attractiveness; 2. fuels urban crreativity; 3. is a key component for urban regeneration.

#industrial_heritage_identity_crisis - Bilbao, Genua, Detroit, etc.

Now my answers/suppositions to questiions which I've come across within the first week of the course:
1) Who do you think is the most legitimate actor to govern cultural heritage? The State? The city? Private companies? National organizations?

In my opinion, nowadays cities are the main actors of cultural heritage governance. Local government is better informed about current issues and can faster respond to changes that happen. At the same time local government can provide all necessary sources.
I consider private companies to be quite competitive as they are usually have a certain aim and focus on a single object. Private actors are more independent in their choice and actions but they might be more vulnerable as well... in terms of state support and investment.
The last but not the least - national organizations - their main task is to impose some common rules to help heritage conservation and development all over the world.

2)Does the city where you live have an industrial past? Does it promote it as an impportant component of its heritage?

St.Petersburg definitely has an industrial past and at present this 'past' is getting a new life and as well as a new form. I suppose we can call this tendency a resolution of industrial identity crisis. I'm talking about turning some industrial buildings into art space and I can say it's for good because it allows to fill the city center with new entertainment facilities what in its turn is an actuall investment made by private actors as well as by citizens themselves (as they are customers who get this or that 'service').
But today such 'reconstruction' takes place not only around the city centre but also on the outskirts like the Museum of Street Art. Though the transport issue seemes still to be a problem but I do believe that such projects will have a future.