Original scientific paper
Can culture and tourism be the foothold of urban regeneration? A Croatian case study
Davorka Mikulić
; University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Split, Croatia
Lidija Petrić
orcid.org/0000-0002-2210-480X
; University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Split, Croatia
Abstract
Following the theoretical discussion on changes in the development paradigm of cities in the post-industrial society, on the strategic implications of urban regeneration and the interrelations of culture and tourism in those processes, the paper presents a conceptual model which provided a basis for the empirical verification of assumed links and relations between the concepts under scrutiny. The possibility of relating cultural and tourism strategies in the process of regeneration of Croatian cities was analysed by application of structural equations modelling. The assumption that cultural strategy based on flagship cultural projects cannot be related to tourism development strategies in Croatian cities has been verified. Furthermore, the estimated parameter have pointed at the existence of a direct positive correlations between the strategies promoting the development of cultural districts and similar projects, which are integrated into the general city development strategies and the tourism development strategies relying mostly on the small and medium-sized entrepreneurship. Apart from the empirical research an analysis of the cities' strategic development documents showed the growing prevalence of the approach in which culture is considered to be a powerful entrepreneurial resource for the development of small entrepreneurship, especially through tourism and related industries. In the light of detected problems, recommendations on further research have been proposed in the area of urban planning and urban management.
Keywords
culture; tourism; urban regeneration; strategies; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
131934
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2014.
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