Differences in the location of urban museums and their impact on urban areas

Abstract

Traditionally, museums spaces have tended to be located in the central areas of cities, thereby reinforcing existing dynamics and limiting their potential impact on more peripheral areas. The present study examines the locations chosen for museums that have been opened in three European cities: Barcelona, Paris and Turin, between the years 2000 and 2013. It shows how the locating of museums and galleries has not been homogeneous and how each potential location has its strengths and weaknesses. This is particularly evident when we consider such factors as the environmental impact of museums and how they influence the commercial offer, image and attractiveness of their host city. This paper identifies and examines the different types of impact that museum location strategies have on urban areas.

Keywords:

• cultural policy
• city marketing
• museums

Acknowledgements

This paper has been made possible thanks to project CSO2012-39373-C04-02.

Notes

1. It is quite difficult to define what is understood by the term ‘museum’, as the concept may vary from country to country. In the present work, we have avoided imposing a single definition. As a result, we shall understand a ‘museum’ to include any space which the local councils of the cities studied have considered to constitute a museum. For the purposes of the present work, this includes museums, collections, galleries and exhibition spaces among other facilities. The specific criteria followed in this work are outlined in greater detail in the methodology section.

2. We should underline the fact that in some cases the extensive renewal of a museum could have a similar cost to the creation of a new museum. The expansion of the Museu Picasso in Barcelona cost €6.7 million. In contrast, the construction and equipping of the new Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport in the same city cost €8 million.

3. The decision to take 2000 as the base year is explained by the desire to establish a cut off point at the beginning of the decade that would offer a certain historical perspective. The year 2000 was not, therefore, chosen because of any major change. In fact, it is difficult to establish a significant date that would be applicable to all three of the countries studied. Even so, we also examined other cut off dates in order to see if this would alter the results for 2000–2013 (for example, we compared the results for the decades 2004–2013 and 2000–2010) but they were similar.

4. We must remember that we only studied museums that were open at the time of conducting this research and not the ones that were closed during this period. Even so, the Rock Museum of Barcelona constitutes a rather special case. It opened its doors in 2011 and closed in 2012, but at the time of the study, it was still featured on the web site that was analysed.

5. Semi-structured interviews lasting approximately one hour were conducted within the museums themselves. These interviews were carried out in the local languages of the different locations. Notes were taken of the answers provided.

6. The cut off in 1940 was based on separating buildings built before and after World War II (and after the Spanish Civil War). It was thought that the war period would have corresponded to a period of almost 10 years without any major museum construction (we only recorded 7 museums opening during the 1940s).

7. Using a cut off distance of 500 m is considered normal for a renovation project in a case of urban development; a distance of more than 500 m is considered remote. This is approximately the distance that a person can walk in 10 min and, for example, the limit used by Noguera Tur et al. (2011).

8. The distance of 200 m from a hotel was based on an approximate calculation. In the cities analysed, we considered that there was a means of transport (whether bus or subway) approximately every 200 m. If a tourist staying at a hotel could take a means of transport before reaching the museum, the museum will go unnoticed.

9. For example, we could cite the fact that only 31 museums had analysed the profiles of their visitors. Only 18 provided data about their budget. As far as the number of workers was concerned, different criteria were used to count them (according to whether they were part-time or sub-contracted staff). Something similar occurred with the number of visitors. Although 58 museums provided data, there were still too many differences when it came to making comparisons (visitors, users, tickets sold).

10. The choice of the buildings that house council buildings as central points responds to the fact that these are buildings which are located in central positions in their respective cities. These buildings are highly representative and many of them have not changed their location in centuries. The building that houses the City Council of Barcelona dates from 1369, that of Paris dates from 1357 and the one in Turin is also medieval in origin.

11. We took as our reference an area within a radius of 2 km, which we considered an easy distance to cover on foot in less than an hour. This was therefore a distance that should not have conditioned mobility.

12. This initiative seeks to create in the medium term, a cultural district based on both the existing and future institutions that will share the Palazzo Reale (the former royal residence of Turin) as the main attraction.

13. By ‘neutral content’ we mean topics that don’t generate controversy among the majority of the population. For example, it is unusual that a museum dedicated to arts becomes criticized by population or media. By the other hand, a museum dedicated to the history (for example, la Cité nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration in Paris), could generate more critical opinions about his contents.

14. We observed this type of criticism in the three main initiatives in each of the cities studied: in Paris about the Musée du Quai Branly, in Barcelona about DHUB and in Turin about the Museo di Arte Orientale.