Investment in Urban Heritage : Economic Impacts of Cultural Heritage Projects in FYR Macedonia and Georgia
Although World Bank projects in the cultural heritage field are subject to the usual assessments that are applied to any project implementation, little is known about the subsequent performance of these projects in the years post-completion. This s...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/09/16977383/investment-urban-heritage-economic-impacts-cultural-heritage-projects-fyr-macedonia-georgia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17386 |
| Summary: | Although World Bank projects in the
cultural heritage field are subject to the usual assessments
that are applied to any project implementation, little is
known about the subsequent performance of these projects in
the years post-completion. This study was undertaken to
provide some empirical evidence for the economic impacts of
cultural heritage investment. Two case studies were chosen
for this purpose, in the historic town centers of Skopje,
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Tbilisi, Georgia,
respectively. The economic principles those are important
for the analysis of cultural heritage investment decisions
make use of concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, and
public preferences. The study confirms the positive impacts
of the investments. In the Macedonian case, the project
helped to stimulate an ongoing investment of US$2.5 million
in the project site, the Skopje old bazaar. Tourist numbers
increased compared to the control site in Prilep; between
2005 and 2010, daily tourist numbers in the Skopje Old
Bazaar increased by 90 percent compared to a slight decline
in Prelip. Employment also grew more rapidly in the target
site than in the control area. This study leads to some
lessons for the design of heritage projects and for the
conduct of an ex post economic impact evaluation. |
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