Governing Regional Development Through Culture and Creativity: The Case of the Veneto Region

Abstract

This article has adopted a focus on culture and creativity in order to reflect on existing policies for the governance of large polycentric territories. Two trends, namely the increasing importance of regions in the urban planning field of study and culture as a strategic factor for territorial development, are combined to see how culture can be used as a strategic element within processes of regional development. Culture-led strategies are found to be instrumental to regional development, especially in territories undergoing a moment of inertia. The case of the Veneto Region shows that this momentum has now evidently also arrived in Italy. At a time in which the whole country is experiencing economic crisis, the Veneto region seems to be trapped in a transition stage between its successful past and the uncertainty of these days. While the Regione del Veneto is only somewhat trying to include culture and creativity in its official regional planning documents, some bottom-up initiatives have highlighted culture as a strategic factor for governing large territories and for their all-embracing development. In this context, culture and creativity can be seen as tools for governing territories that do not follow the policy orientation given by Regione del Veneto, but rather have a new understanding of regional governance taken forward by the private sector working together with the local administrations.

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