Heritage and entrepreneurial urbanism: unequal economies, social exclusion, and conservative cultures

ABSTRACT

This article articulates an argument observed in the voices of key stakeholders in Bath, Edinburgh, and York, in conversations with the literature, whereby heritage-led entrepreneurial urbanism practices lead to cultures that are conservative in nature. Consequently, such historic cities are less able to overcome inherent social challenges around unequal economies, high house prices, and the resulting exclusion. Through using locally controlled resources to encourage a more spatially fixed and equal economy, however, historic cities may reduce these social challenges and encourage the more progressive and vibrant cultures that will allow them to engage with the environmental challenges faced by all.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage
• entrepreneurial urbanism
• unequal economies
• social exclusion
• conservative cultures

1. Introduction

This article argues that economic development strategies grounded in the promotion of identities that centre around the monuments and historically significant buildings that constitute a city’s heritage serve to create cultures that are conservative in being resistant to change and focused on an elitist notion of the past. Here, culture is defined as the ‘social production and transmission of values and meaning’ (Hawkes 2001, 1). As a result of conservative cultures, historic cities are less able to overcome the inherent social challenges they were found to face around unequal economies, high house prices, and the resulting exclusion. Further, they are less willing to engage with the environmental challenges faced by all, such as the ever increasing need to address climate change (IPCC 2018). This dynamic is grounded in the voices of key stakeholders in the UK cities of Bath, Edinburgh, and York. Through conversations with the literature, I contend that mobilising heritage in this way is consistent with urban governance strategies in the neoliberal phase of capitalism whereby increased economic precarity has resulted in cities competing to attract mobile capital. In that regard, in this article I draw upon Harvey’s (1989) concept of ‘entrepreneurial urbanism’ in order to contribute to our understanding of the social, environmental, political, and cultural outcomes arising from heritage-led economic development.

It is also important to recognise the economic relationship revealed in this paper is likely to exist more widely than the studied cities in so far as many UK cities are rich in heritage and the related tourism, with spend on admission fees, souvenirs, transport, and food and accommodation, has been a significant industry in the UK since the mid- to late-1980s (Waterton and Watson 2013). Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996) advance two potential reasons for why heritage tourism developed in this period. First, an increased demand for cultural offerings resulting from rising disposable income. Second, a nostalgia in countries such as Britain as a symptom of relative economic decline. Internationally and in the contemporary period, meanwhile, factors including low-cost travel (IPK International 2013), an attraction towards a density of cultural attractions (Bock 2015), and a tendency towards shorter holidays (Dunne, Flanagan, and Buckley 2010) have ensured the continued and increased significance of tourism to historic cities. For such reasons, it is possible to imagine similar experiences in historic cities in any neoliberal political economy. With this applicability in mind, I propose that the strategy set forth by DeFilippis (1999, 2004), and partially employed in the post-industrial city of Preston, UK (CLES (2019); 2023), to embed more spatially fixed and equal forms of economic activity will reduce the need for heritage-led economic development if employed in historic cities. I conclude that doing so will create more equal economies, reduce exclusion, and develop the more progressive and vibrant cultures that may better engage with environmental challenges.

The economic relationship between cities and their heritage is not as well considered in the literature as it could be. Discussions on heritage, including those in Urban Research & Practice, tend to focus on individual characteristics, such as defining authenticity and integrity, and their role in the management of historic cities (Jigyasu and Imon 2023), and how individual consumption habits may be influenced by ‘official’ heritage (Borges and Adolphson 2016). Scholars identify the exclusion that may result from the high house prices associated with proximity to heritage (Nasser 2003; Pendlebury, Townshend, and Gilroy 2004; Veldpaus et al. 2021). This, however, is only one element of the dynamic set forth here, and neither unequal economies or conservative cultures are explored.

The cultural element of the dynamic presented here contributes to two areas of academia. First, in the field of Cultural Economy, which looks to revalue culture as a causal force in economic relations and structures. Just as Gibson (2012), for instance, argues for the need to account for the role of culture in the consumer decisions of residents to address the ‘greening’ of cities. Second, in the field of Cultural Heritage, which seeks to explore culture as a causal force in societies’ relationship towards heritage. Lillevold and Haarstad (2019), for instance, argue that a sense of place in Røros, Norway, relating to the dense and wooden historic centre, is a resource against unsustainable urban sprawl.

This article proceeds as follows. First, the literature around entrepreneurial urbanism, as the concept through which the urban governance landscape is interpreted, is set forth and discussed in the context of the literature around heritage-led economic development by looking at the challenges as well as opportunities associated with heritage. Then, in the methodology section the background information on the studied cities is presented, and the inductive inquiry nature through which the findings emerged is established. Next, the empirical findings are presented first for York, as the primary studied city, followed by Bath and Edinburgh. After this, these findings are discussed in the context of unequal economies, social exclusion, and conservative cultures, as the dynamic that emerged, followed by alternative ways in which historic cities may develop. In the concluding section, the overall argument is restated followed by the wider implications.

2. Heritage and entrepreneurial urbanism

In his classic article, Harvey (1989) identified that urban governance changed from the late 1970s whereby economic development shifted from being driven by public investment and towards competing for mobile capital. This was in response to the precarious economic position cities face with the neoliberal phase of capitalism through reduced social welfare provisioning, the privatisation of publicly owned enterprises, the greater mobility of capital, and the decline of traditional manufacturing industries. The competitive approach has been driven by a variety of local business, media, public institution, and organised labour actors termed ‘growth coalitions’, in addition to global capital, all of whom have a common stake in local economic growth (Farahani 2017; Russo and Scarnato 2018; Su 2015). This logic has also been aided by ‘fast policy’ transfers between urban elites, using consultants and media channels (Bontje and Lawton 2013; McCann 2011; Peck, Brenner, and Theodore 2010).

These changes have also seen an increased focus on cultural events and products to overcome the economic shortfall (Harvey 1989). Heritage has an economic role to play in this as a means through which to attract investment, tourists, and residents (Evans 2009; MacLeod 2002; Storhammar et al. 2010). The unique and authentic nature has seen heritage sit at the heart of city branding (Caust and Veco 2017; Morgan and Pritchard 2004; Starr 2010). With further economic precarity following factors such as the 2008 financial crash and rapidly rising unemployment faced in the era of severe austerity, there has seen deepening competitive logic in the contemporary period (Berry 2014; Peck 2012), with the appropriate increased emphasis on heritage (Scott et al. 2023).

2.1. Heritage and the challenges of heritage-led economic development

Despite growth coalitions portraying economic and cultural benefits to residents from heritage-led economic development, drawbacks such as the poor jobs or housing bubbles generated are frequently omitted from this narrative (Farahani 2017; Russo and Scarnato 2018). There are further challenges. Heritage-led economic development may entail the privatisation of heritage assets and public places, and banalisation of cityscapes by global brands (Lawton and Punch 2014; Russo and Scarnato 2018). A blind focus on economic growth can lead to ‘overtourism’ whereby there is an unconditional emphasis placed on increasing tourism numbers and a lack of control over the situation (Dodds and Butler 2019). Heritage tourism may place pressure on the local economy, pushing land and property prices beyond local affordability, and local people away from the area (Nasser 2003; Pendlebury, Townshend, and Gilroy 2004). Certainly, Franco and Macdonald (2018) found in Lisbon, Portugal, that proximity to heritage yields a premium on property prices. The increased commercial value may lead to heritage becoming central to the local economy, resulting in that area receiving more attention and resources than elsewhere (Nasser 2003). Demand from tourists may bias local trade towards this market, while increased footfall and pressure on the road network from tourism can lead to overcrowding and congestion (Jamen-Verbeke 1997). Indeed, Ashworth (2009) believes that heritage management is primarily concerned with balancing economic need with local dislike for tourists.

Many of the problems associated with heritage tourism emerge as a pattern in a study by García-Hernández, De la Calle-Vaquero, and Yubero (2017) on the historic centre of San Sebastián, Spain. Here, there were increases in hotels and rental properties, while local trade and hospitality adjusted to the tourist market, leading to a tourism ‘monoculture’, driving residents away. There was banalisation of local customs and traditions to suit the foreign consumer. With streets not being designed for such large numbers, there were problems with overcrowding and congestion. There was a dichotomy between the way in which residents and tourists perceived this: being viewed as ‘noisy’ and ‘antisocial’ by the former and ‘atmospheric’ by the latter.

There are also numerous benefits that may emerge from heritage. In underdeveloped regions in Spain, Troitiño Vinuesa and Troitiño Torralba (2010) observed that tourism modernised the stock of hotels and restaurants, improved hospitality services, and widened the range of cultural events. The business and jobs from heritage tourism can generate income locally (Dümcke and Gnedovsky 2013; UNESCO 2015). Heritage may enrich life with meaning and emotions (Rostami, Khoshnava, and Lamit 2014). Heritage can develop a local identity around which there is greater cohesion and inclusion (Jimura and Gravari-Barbas 2016). Heritage may help negate the homogenising effects of neoliberalism and globalisation (Haf and Parkhill 2017).

2.2. Alternatives forms of development

Away from economic uses, Scott et al. (2023) argue that meaningful community engagement with heritage has the potential to promote an alternative form of development that emphasises social and cultural values. Certainly, scholars highlight numerous benefits that may come from community engagement in heritage management. First, the incorporation of meaning into an inherent vibrancy in the present (Gibson 2009; Waterton 2005). Second, a more democratic and inclusive notion of heritage (Littler and Naidoo 2005; Smith 2006). Third, a longevity in policies as residents remain engaged and motivated to participate (Harrison 2013; Macdonald 2013; Perkin 2010).

Away from heritage-led forms and towards economic development in general, DeFilippis (1999, 2004) proposed a strategy to use the resources of locally based organisations to encourage local, collective ownership over the three realms of socio-economic relations: the means of production (worker or community organisations); the means of reproduction (community-led housing); and the means of exchange (credit unions and local currencies). Therefore, with greater spatially fixed economic activity, this reduces the precarity through which the entrepreneurial need to compete for mobile capital emerges. In the UK, this approach is being championed by the think tank CLES (2019, 2023), and partially employed in Preston, with the city bucking the economic trend of many of its counterparts (PwC 2018).

3. Methodology

This study adopted an inductive inquiry approach. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in York in which a holistic (social, environmental, economic, political, and cultural) understanding was constructed of the city. Here, heritage-led economic development was observed to lead to unequal economies, social exclusion, and conservative cultures. Therefore, to contrast and develop knowledge of this insight, a holistic understanding was constructed of both Bath and Edinburgh, as historic cities.

Known for its Roman-built baths and primarily Georgian architecture made from local, golden-coloured stone, Bath, along with Venice, is one of only two European cities that are decreed UNESCO World Heritage Sites in their entirety. Edinburgh’s heritage includes the medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town, in addition to Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Home to Northern Europe’s second largest Gothic church and seat of the Archbishop of York as the head of the Northern Diocese; the Minster, and York Castle, York’s historic core includes heritage from various periods, including Georgian and Victorian, and is enclosed by the city’s medieval walls. Further information on the studied cities related to the findings is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Information on the studied cities.

	Population	Annual ‘staying visits’ for inbound tourists*	Average house price**	Deprivation ranking***	Median wage****
Bath	89,000	273,000	£449,702	274/317	£27,614
Edinburgh	518,500	1,796,000	£335,199	22/32	£30,172
York	198,000	193,000	£332,131	275/317	£27,507
National	-	-	£286,489	-	£27,756

*With no data existing that uniformly records all tourism and/or tourism spend in cities in the UK, ‘annual ‘staying visits’ for inbound tourists’ is a proxy for the prevalence of tourism. To contextualise this, despite Bath, Edinburgh, and York all being small- to medium-sized cities, they are ranked 11^th, 2^nd, and 14^th by this measure, respectively. Source: Visit Britain (2022). **A proxy for the relative cost of housing in a locale. Source: Land Registry (2023). ***Out of local authority areas in respective devolved regions. Source: MHCLG (2019); Scotland Data (2020). ****Source: ONS (2022).

Prior to data collection, ethical approval was sought from the University Ethics Committee. Interview requests were directed towards people with in-depth knowledge of their city, such as local authority officers and academics, and from notable organisations. As highlighted by Bogner, Littig, and Menz (2009), interviews with ‘experts’ allows for the exploration of a concentrated form of knowledge. In total, 57 semi-structured interviews (lasting on average 45 minutes) were conducted in Bath (9), Edinburgh (12), and York (36) between June 2017 and January 2020. Interviews were face-to-face in York and over telephone or video call in Bath and Edinburgh. Interviews were supplemented by secondary data, either through suggestions from interviewees or in searching for official statistics or policy documents.

Analysis largely followed the process set out by Charmaz (2014). The data for each studied city were openly coded by segmenting them into individual elements of the understanding constructed and describing these in a word or short sequence of words. Axial coding, as per Corbin and Strauss (2008), was then employed whereby relationships between codes were defined using methods such as mind maps. Memos were written in which the data were reflected upon in an informal manner. These memos formed the basis for the initial write-up. The academic literature was then engaged with to confirm, explain, and contextualise the empirical findings, which are presented below. The subsequent write-up process formed the final part of analysis.

4. Empirical findings

4.1. York

According to respective interviewees, York has undergone an economic transformation from being a manufacturing centre for the railways and Quaker confectionary, such as Rowntree’s and Terry’s, up until previous decades, towards tourism and professional roles, such as those in the Civil Service, knowledge sector, and creative industries (e.g. software, publishing, performing arts, TV and radio, crafts etc.) in the present. A major contributor to low levels of manufacturing in the contemporary period was said to be high land prices reducing the financial viability of low value per unit of area economic activity.

In Planning for Tourism: Towards a Sustainable Future City of York Council (CYC) officer, Tempest (2015) observed that, particularly from the 1980s, York began to place more emphasis on tourism and adapted this experience with investment in the museums, art gallery, theatre, and racecourse. In 2008 this led to the establishment of Visit York which at the time was the leisure tourism brand of CYC. According to interviewees, however, in 2015 budgetary pressures associated with austerity led to the commercial activities of the city being moved to a private limited company; Make It York, solely owned by the local authority. This arrangement was said by a local authority officer to create an impetus to ‘sweat the assets of the city’ while not allowing budgets from elsewhere to interfere. Accordingly, and consistent with the policies of Make It York (2019), interviewees observed increased activities around festivals, events and tourism, and York being positioned as a conference destination: to attract investment into property development and business, and increase spend in the city. Interviewees commented that, unlike prior to the economic transformation in the 1960s when tourists consisted mainly of school trips and day visitors from within the region, there is now a vibrant evening economy of restaurants, cafés, bars, and hotels, and a significant number of shops selling heritage-related goods.

Professionals and wealthy retirees were said by interviewees to be attracted to live in York by a quality of place afforded by the small nature of the urban area with easy access to the countryside, large green spaces, and heritage. This was thought to create a feedback effect whereby incoming residents brought socio-economic benefits, as discussed here by a local academic:

It’s a city that has attracted a growing middle-class and it isn’t faced with high levels of social deprivation. A lot of challenges that bigger cities face in the North are to do with endemic poverty and deprivation. You do have it here, but only in pockets.

A frequently cited example of the feedback effect was York’s schools having particularly good GCSE results, which was attributed to the city being able to attract a good quality of teacher and a relative lack of deprivation among pupils. The quality of place, in addition to the socio-economic benefits from incoming residents, was said to result in the city offering an overall good quality of life to residents.

The attraction of professionals and wealthy retirees, in addition to University of York (UoY) undertaking major expansion without matching on-site student housing provision, and cities with large student populations such as York being seen to be particularly good buy-to-let investment opportunities, was said by interviewees to result in relatively high house prices. Consequently, poorer groupings, such as those working in the local tourist industry, are pushed out of the city, as expanded upon here by a local academic:

[Incomers are] squeezing out first-time buyers who are on local wages and just can’t compete. The resentment about incomers; they’re not often that explicit; but they’re there: below the surface.

Housebuilding, therefore, is crucial to York being accessible to poorer groupings. Developing the built environment, however, is politically contentious with the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, and, to an extent, the Green Party representing different groupings largely based on location. There were also contrasting voices regarding large landowners, such as Halifax Estates (n.d..), in the rural fringes and whether they were willing to sell their land for housing.

Interviewees highlighted numerous vibrant and progressive elements to the culture of York’s residents. First, there was said to be a long-standing educated nature to much of the city’s professional employment and a prevalence of the Quakers and the Church. This was said to be reflected in what were thought to be particularly high volunteer rates and support for CYC environmental policies, such as closing roads to cars. Second, students were thought to bring energy and an openness to new ideas. This impact, however, was said to be limited due to UoY, as the largest of York’s two universities, being located on the edge of the city. With expansion of the more centrally located York St John University in addition to new, what may be considered to be more youthful attractions, such as Spark, in which up-cycled shipping containers are being used as a street-food and start-up business hub (for more details, see Spark: York 2023), said to be drawing UoY students into the city centre, the cultural influence from students was thought to be increasing. Despite this, the high house prices and lack of more vibrant cultural offerings that were thought to be found in larger cities based on a more modern period of development, such as Leeds or Manchester, were said to result in low graduate retention rates.

Certainly, the culture as a whole was said to reflect older inhabitants, many of whom wanted the city to remain the same and were thought to desire what a local economic development officer referred to as ‘stodgy activities and events’. Indeed, CYC (2019) Cultural Strategy is based upon museums, heritage, and theatres as cultural offerings that may be perceived in this way. These older groupings were said to occupy a relatively high number of positions of power in York, such as councillors. This overall effect and the consequences are described here by a local business owner and politician:

York’s very much dominated by older people and, [due to] that, it’s not got the vitality that you maybe have in other cities.

Interviewees also discussed a parochialism and absence of ambition that was attributed to a historic lack of heavy industry resulting in less immigration and being isolated in the culturally conservative rural hinterland of North Yorkshire.

These culturally conservative strands were thought to manifest themselves in city strategy, as articulated here by an active member of the local civil society:

How do we move the city forward and plan long-term? I don’t think we’re having those conversations yet because we’re so stuck in protecting our past we almost forget to look forward and take difficult decisions.

An example of this mentality may be seen in the significant opposition that Spark, identified by interviewees as being a refreshing change for York, was thought to continually face, with subsequent plans to remove the development and build flats on the site.

The conservative culture, in addition to a short-term mentality resulting from a fluctuating political climate in which any one of the four political parties represented in the city may, at least in part, control the local authority, was said by interviewees to result in CYC focussing on tourism as the easy economic option, as discussed here by a local politician:

There isn’t a framework for trying to drive in business which require high value jobs, and yet we’re seeing tourism being more and more at the centre of the economic plan.

Certainly, while Visit York (n.d., 2) aims to ‘[double] the value of tourism to the economy’ and utilise tourism to deliver ‘high quality jobs’, there was concern among participants that tourism was the source of low value employment. Further, interviewees identified the higher value creative industries as a potential growth area that is being overlooked by policymakers (for more details on the potential for the creative industries in York, see Niven and Cooper 2018). Overall, tourism roles were said to contrast with a disproportionately large number of high paid jobs based on the professional expertise of those attracted to York to create an increasingly unequal city.

4.2. Bath

Much like in York, interviewees in Bath commented that their heritage brings tourism and, in addition to a high number of parks that connect the city to the surrounding countryside and a feeling of safety, forms the basis for offering a good quality of life that attracts residents. Groupings identified were thought to have significant wealth and comprise of second homeowners, rent-seekers (especially with Airbnb becoming more prevalent), wealthy retirees, and people moving from London. Furthermore, property was said to be used as an investment from people and organisations in the UK and abroad.

Interviewees commented that in the 1960s and 70s Bath’s Georgian architecture was thought of as being poor quality. The resulting low house prices in this period were said to have allowed for a strong working-class presence, a high number of independent shops, and what were described by interviewees as ‘alternative’, ‘artistic’, and ‘bohemian’ components that ‘contained pro-environmental elements’. Due to the strong attraction of residents in the present, however, house prices were now noted to be high to the extent that not only those in low paid tourism-related service employment, but graduates from the city’s universities and high paid professionals are being pushed out of Bath. This overall effect was commented upon by a local academic:

Gentrification I think of as a shift in character and structure and housing from the more or less working-class to the more or less middle-class. Whereas this is mostly extending to the upper- middle-class access to housing in Bath.

Consequent to a significant portion of the workforce being excluded from home ownership, interviewees spoke of a transitory city in which workers commute in from outlying villages. Inequality between remaining poorer groups and the rest of the city was thought to be increasing. Recognising the low paid nature of tourism-related service employment, Bath and North East Somerset Council (BathNES) were said to be pushing the economy towards the higher value creative industries. Though, due to the property prices, this was said to suffer from inherent problems with a lack of office space. Therefore, while the job market was said to be primarily based on tourism, in addition to some professional roles in the public sector and knowledge and creative industries, in many ways Bath functions as an economic entity through the wealth of residents as opposed to any production of goods or services.

There was little discussion among participants around intervention from public institutions to address the high house prices. Though, regarding this issue in the UK more widely, an active member of the local civil society commented:

When rich people can buy up properties and don’t use them it is to such a detriment. That is where the state requires intervention […] This is just a free for all. This is just one of the many problems of deregulation that many people were predicting in the 1970s and 80s.

An increase in housing supply was thought to be difficult as land around Bath was said to be owned by the National Trust and therefore could not be built upon. Although some of the city’s remaining green spaces are being developed, this was observed to be market driven with little of the affordable housing which, at 80% of market value, was said to be required.

Culturally, professionals were thought to bring an environmental agenda to the city, as described here by a local politician:

I guess awareness of Climate Emergency is probably higher up amongst graduates. And Bath being expensive and attractive does attract more of that sort of people. So, I suppose those sorts of people and their children are very aware of the Climate Emergency and are not afraid to go out on School Strike, or whatever it is, and speak.

Students were thought to be a source of vitality but were said to have limited cultural impact due to Bath’s two universities being based on the edge of the city. Overall, and as may be reflected in BathNES’s (2020) Cultural Strategy with a focus on heritage tourism, more vibrant and progressive social groupings were said by interviewees to be increasingly ‘swamped’ by conservative elements from those more able to afford to live in the city.

4.3. Edinburgh

Unlike Bath, Edinburgh was felt by respective interviewees to have several significant strings to its economic bow. In addition to tourism largely attributed to the heritage, as the capital of Scotland the city was said to be the devolved nation’s centre for government, further to finance and education, and was thought to be home to an emerging high-tech sector. Additionally, Edinburgh was felt to have had a weak traditional manufacturing industry, making it easier to transition to a more contemporary economy.

Interviewees commented that Edinburgh actively looks to attract professionals, tourists, and investment into property development and business, and identified several place assets that could be mobilised to achieve this, as expanded upon here by a local politician:

It’s built on seven hills. It’s got a lot of space; we’ve got big views. The [heritage] in the centre is very attractive. We’ve got a lot of parks and greenspace. You can get out of the city very quickly because it’s a small city. We’ve got a coast, the sea. We’ve got a city beach down at Portobello. And then the culture, festivals.

Relating to this last point, it was highlighted that Edinburgh is home to both the Fringe, which is the world’s largest annual international festival, and the Edinburgh International Festival. The city’s variety in this regard is exemplified by City of Edinburgh Council’s (2022) Cultural Strategy which focuses on a range of both contemporary and historic attractions.

Interviewees, however, observed unsustainably high levels of tourism which was said by an active member of the local civil society to be having a ‘hugely corrosive impact on the social fabric of the city’ through overcrowding and inflated house prices. The financial benefits from tourism, meanwhile, were thought by the same interviewee to be captured by ‘short-term lets; Airbnb, in addition to traditional hotels’. In two academic articles, retired academic and Chair of the Cockburn Association, an Edinburgh civic charity, Cliff Hague wrote extensively on the ‘festivilisation’ of Edinburgh. According to Hague (2021a), festivals have been a feature of Edinburgh since the 1950s. Since the 1990s, however, City of Edinburgh Council has actively intensified events with tourism in mind following both job losses associated with the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent austerity. Hague (2021a) identifies the Festival Forum, established in 2007, as the primary body promoting tourism in Edinburgh. The Forum consists of industry stakeholders at national and local level, leading councillors, officials and government agencies, and private consultants. According to Hague (2021a), the latter grouping is responsible for framing the benefits of festivals, which is based upon narrow definitions of the need for economic growth, and recycling recommendations to promote festivals nationally and internationally using public investment and strong internal and external marketing. Hague (2021b) contends that many of the festivals in Edinburgh are expensive and exclude large portions of the local population. Finally, Hague (2021b) highlights that festivals add marginal gains to Edinburgh’s economy with a relatively small number of low paid, temporary jobs being created and primarily by external businesses who then extract their profits.

Indeed, with the economy being based upon the contrast between high paid professional roles and low paid tourism-related service employment, the local economy was said by interviewees to be the primary source of what were thought to be significant problems with inequality. There was said to be a policy agenda by City of Edinburgh Council around ‘inclusive growth’ that engages in key areas such as housing, education, and employment to spread the benefits of increased economic activity more equally that is part of a wider strategy by the Scottish Government (see Statham and Gunson 2019). Therefore, the encouragement of tourism in Edinburgh not only exacerbates existing problems with inequality, but directly contradicts national policy priorities.

Due to the growth of the economy, Edinburgh was said by interviewees to be expanding quickly and, with a predicted increase in population by 15% in this decade, was projected to be bigger than Glasgow by 2030. There were concerns about the nature of this growth as the development of brownfield sites in the city was said to contrast with both expansion into the green belt, mainly to the west of Edinburgh, and unplanned sprawl into the neighbouring Midlothian. It was observed that the latter local authority county is poorer and their need for income results in the environmentally costly development of greenfield land.

There were four groupings described by participants concerning Edinburgh’s culture. First, a ‘conservative wealth’ element that is resistant to change but is in no way ‘narrow-minded’. Second and third, both affluent middle-class and student populations, each of whom are noted to make up a large proportion of the city and are thought to engage in a variety of social and environmental actions and projects. Fourth, an international class that adds to the cosmopolitan nature of Edinburgh. The heritage was seen as integral to the cultural development of all these groups; being the basis for the mentality of the first, and for the quality of place that attracts the latter three. Overall, therefore, there are various progressive/vibrant and conservative elements to Edinburgh’s culture.

5. Discussion

The studied cities show that there is a dynamic relationship between heritage-led economic development and unequal economies, social exclusion, and conservative cultures. Accordingly, the findings are discussed below, in conversations with the literature, in these three areas, followed by alternative ways in which historic cities may develop.

5.1. Unequal economies

Consistent with the literature (Evans 2009; MacLeod 2002; Storhammar et al. 2010), the studied cities were said by respective interviewees to attract professionals, wealthy retirees, tourists, rent-seekers and second homeowners, and investment into property development and business. Heritage, and the related cultural events and products, is one attribute, along with parks/green spaces, a small nature to the urban area with resulting access to external environmental amenities, and a feeling of safety, that was said adds to an overall quality of place that attracts residents and tourists, and from which investment follows. Notably, many attracted residents were thought to bring socio-economic benefits, enhancing this attraction. Consistent with the literature (Caust and Veco 2017; Morgan and Pritchard 2004; Starr 2010), the studied cities use heritage branding, expressed in cultural and economic strategies, to enhance their attraction.

Therefore, the studied cities have responded to the economic precarity from neoliberalism with the competitive approach and the attraction of the groupings may be seen as the form entrepreneurial urbanism (Harvey 1989) takes in the context of heritage. The stakeholders being around business, politics, and public institutions (Farahani 2017; Russo and Scarnato 2018), and the use of consultants to encourage this logic identified in the literature (Bontje and Lawton 2013; McCann 2011; Peck, Brenner, and Theodore 2010), are consistent with those identified by Hague (2021a) as being responsible for encouraging festivals in Edinburgh. The primary benefactors of economic growth in the studied cities were thought to be specific industries: hospitality, traders in heritage goods and services, and rent-seekers based on both short-term lets and property investment. The latter, as described by Britton (1991), capture these benefits unearned. Consistent with the literature, in Edinburgh and York there is a heightened emphasis on economic growth with the greater precarity of the contemporary period (Berry 2014; Peck 2012) and increased commercialisation of heritage as a result (Scott et al. 2023).

The attracted residents and tourists define the local job markets of the studied cities in two ways. First, many wealthier and older residents do not form part of the workforce, as exemplified by Bath. Second, residents with highly valued skills and tourists lead to a large number of high paid professional roles and low paid service jobs, respectively, in addition to low levels of manufacturing employment. The latter is perhaps, as in York, exacerbated by high land prices in historic cities. This dynamic closely matches contemporary economies whereby increased highly skilled and paid roles in turn create demand for low paid service employment, while middling administrative and manufacturing jobs have reduced, with the remaining shifting towards high skill and pay (OECD (2020); ONS (2019); Schwab 2017). Accordingly, the studied cities have transitioned well to the contemporary economy and even in York, in which there was a significant manufacturing industry, losses have been offset.

Consistent with the literature (Farahani 2017; Russo and Scarnato 2018), in Edinburgh Hague (2021b) observed that the benefits of economic growth are exaggerated, and the drawbacks downplayed. Much like Russo and Scarnato’s (2018) observations in Barcelona, Spain, interviewees highlighted that tourism did not contribute to their respective city in economically substantial ways with the employment generated considered low value. Therefore, while by their nature contemporary economies are unequal, given the attracted groupings, historic cities may be more so. Meanwhile, despite the disproportionately high number of professional roles, due to the prevalent tourist industry, such economies are not high value. This is reflected in Table 1 whereby median wages for Bath and York are similar to the national average, while Edinburgh, in which there is a prevalence of high-value industries, is higher.

Tourism has the potential to benefit underdeveloped regions (Troitiño Vinuesa and Troitiño Torralba 2010). The studied cities, however, may be considered ‘fully developed’ whereby heritage-led economic development leads to the problems of ‘overtourism’ identified by García-Hernández, De la Calle-Vaquero, and Yubero (2017) in San Sebastián, and collectively in the literature: trade biased away from local need and overcrowding (Jamen-Verbeke 1997); the need to manage tensions between residents and tourists (Ashworth 2009); tourist areas receiving more resources than elsewhere (Nasser 2003); privatisation of public place and heritage assets and banalisation of cityscapes and customs (Lawton and Punch 2014; Russo and Scarnato 2018). In fact, generally viewing heritage as an economic good is fraught with problems, such as creating an object-orientated approach to heritage, that itself is defined by cultural elites (Gibson 2009; van Knippenberg, Boonstra, and Boelens 2022; Waterton 2005), that audiences passively interact with (Waterton and Watson 2013), and which negates any sense of the local identity that heritage may bring (Salazar 2010).

5.2. Social exclusion

Consistent with Franco and Macdonald (2018), due to the attraction of the identified residents and rent-seekers based on heritage, house prices in the studied cities were said by participants, and evidenced in Table 1, to be relatively high for the UK. The constitution of residents was defined by house prices, with this being a barrier that poorer groups are less able to socially reproduce and who are pushed out to lower socio-economic areas as a result. The observed displacement of long-time residents by the middle-classes, economic revitalisation, and increase in property price in Edinburgh and York is characteristic of gentrification (Clark 2005; Lees, Slater, and Wyly 2008). Though for the same reasons, in Bath displacement has extended to the middle-classes and has gone beyond any notions of ‘revitalisation’. Displacement in the studied cities highlights the inherent paradox in historic cities between the disproportionately large low paid tourism-related service economy and high house prices whereby, as emphasized by Nasser (2003) and Pendlebury, Townshend, and Gilroy (2004), residents decreasingly match those employed in the local economy. Consequently, the fully developed historic city pursuing a heritage-led economic development strategy may be accused of exporting many of the socio-economic problems that its job market creates to areas with lower house prices and, while participants observed relatively little deprivation, claims that are substantiated by the data in Table 1, this does not present an accurate picture.

Despite housing affordability being integral to social formations, participants felt that local authorities in the studied cities are unable to intervene adequately in the housing market. Housebuilding was said to be either limited in the context of the numbers required and/or poorly planned and at least partly dependent upon landownership around a city. Certainly, over the last 40 years there has been a constrained housing supply in the UK due to centrally imposed limitations on local authorities’ ability to build (Disney and Luo 2017; Gurran and Whitehead 2011; LGA 2023). As discussed in Bath, meanwhile, local authorities lack the powers to regulate problematic property ownership, such as second homes and rent-seeking. As is found in the literature (Gurran and Phibbs 2017; Lee 2016; Rae 2019), the increased opportunity for rent-seeking from short-term lets through platforms such as Airbnb is inflating house prices and displacing residents and community amenities in the studied cities. It may be that, as argued by Bugalski (2020), as historic cities the studied cities are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon: a problem that may now be receiving recognition by Central Government (B.B.C. News 2023) and is being addressed by York Central MP, Rachel Maskell, who is calling for tighter regulation on short-term holiday lets (Lewis 2022).

5.3. Conservative cultures

The use of ‘culture’ by interviewees was consistent with Hawkes (2001, 1) definition as ‘the social production and transmission of values and meaning’ of residents. From the voices of participants, respective cultures in the studied cities are formed through two processes. First, the residents that are attracted/repelled to/from, and are financially (un)able to, live in a studied city and, as in students, their location. Progressive and vibrant groupings were identified as professionals, students, the presence of significant charitable organisations, and artistic elements. There are many parallels here with the young, educated, and affluent populations that Haupt et al. (2023) observed are more likely to be present in both historic and university cities and who are found in the literature (Kern et al. 2021; Mann, Briant, and Gibin 2014; Zahran et al. 2008) to push for sustainability policies. Less well defined by the literature, conservative groupings were highlighted as being older, with significant wealth, and insulated populations. Therefore, housing affordability, in addition to the attraction of residents and size, are integral to cultural development.

The second process through which cultures are formed was more implicit in the voices of participants in being through the use of heritage in city branding. Branding may be communicated through marketing campaigns, events, and the development of related industries including the arts, traders of heritage goods and services, and hospitality. Certainly, buildings communicate ideas and feelings that in turn mould us (Gieryn 2002). With this in mind, emphasising heritage may convey an atmosphere of continuity and artistic vibrancy, but it may also amplify an old-fashioned air and an unresponsiveness to change (Tunbridge and Ashworth 1996). More akin to the latter, resorting to commercialising the past may reveal an economy that is struggling to face the challenges of the present, and is unable to build a different future (Hewison 1987), with the appropriate cultural connotations. Somewhat ironically, it appears that conservative cultures make heritage-led economic development more likely as, despite the associated low value employment and social exclusion, the related tourism is an ‘easy’ option for historic cities.

5.4. Alternative forms of development

While Scott et al. (2023) argue that meaningful community engagement has the potential to forge a more substantial relationship between a city and its heritage based on social and cultural values as opposed to through economic development, there is a clear economic need in the studied cities that would not be satisfied by this. Indeed, even though through the groupings that heritage attracts it appears that historic cities are the ‘winners’ of intercity competing, the studied cities show that they remain economically precarious in absolute terms. This is because, as an entrepreneurial urbanism form, heritage-led economic development facilitates groupings that are already wealthy and, therefore, overlooks the approximately one-half to two-thirds of the population who are not prized for their human or finance capital, and are more likely to be less well educated, require social welfare, and be permanent residents in a locale (Cox and Jonas 1999; Goodhart 2017; Harvey 1996); that is, should they not be excluded by house prices.

Consequently, while there may be ways of diversifying an economy from an emphasis on heritage tourism, for instance with the creative industries in York, this will only serve to perpetuate these problems. Cities, however, are not subservient to the entrepreneurial urbanism logic, with decisions being influenced by a range of social, cultural, and political relations (Barnett 2010; Clarke 2008; Raco and Gilliam 2012). Therefore, given that heritage-led economic development is ineffective at achieving the goals of policymakers to meet the welfare needs across their populations, public institutions should pursue the strategy set out by DeFilippis (1999, 2004) which reduces the economic precarity through which the entrepreneurial need to compete for mobile capital emerges.

In addition to broadly raising the welfare of the population, by reducing the entrepreneurial need to compete, the implementation of this strategy in a historic city will lessen the transmission of an unresponsive focus on the past and decrease the attraction of tourists and residents. A diminished attraction will encourage a more equal economy, reduce house prices, minimise exclusion, and increase access to progressive and vibrant groupings. The resulting cultural changes will allow historic cities to better engage with environmental challenges.

Additionally, moving away from viewing heritage as an economic good will allow social and cultural values to be considered in heritage management (Lennox 2016; Veldpaus and Pendlebury 2023; Veldpaus et al. 2021), such as the way in which heritage may enrich life with meaning and emotions (Rostami, Khoshnava, and Lamit 2014), develop a local identity around which there is greater cohesion and inclusion (Jimura and Gravari-Barbas 2016), and help negate the homogenising effects of neoliberalism and globalisation (Haf and Parkhill 2017). Furtherstill, shifting from a blind focus on economic growth in heritage management will allow space for meaningful community engagement (Pendlebury 2013; Perkin 2010; Waterton and Watson 2010). Doing so will enable the incorporation of heritage values that include meaning into an inherent vibrancy in the present (Gibson 2009; Waterton 2005), a more democratic and inclusive notion of heritage (Littler and Naidoo 2005; Smith 2006), a longevity in policies (Harrison 2013; Macdonald 2013; Perkin 2010), and a mix of business and jobs that can generate income locally (Dümcke and Gnedovsky 2013; UNESCO 2015) that is more appropriate for the needs of residents.

6. Conclusion

Through insight gained from the voices of participants in Bath, Edinburgh, and York, this article has argued that urban governance approaches that rely on heritage to foster economic development leads to cultures that are conservative, since they preference certain social groupings and communicate an elitist and unresponsive focus on the past. This renders such cities less able to engage with inherent social challenges they face around unequal economies, high house prices, and the consequential exclusion.

I draw upon Harvey’s (1989) concept of entrepreneurial urbanism to identify the economic precarity faced by cities in neoliberal states and the tendency towards the commercialisation of heritage as a means to overcome this shortfall. This competitive approach has been driven by a range of actors all of whom have a stake in local economic growth (Farahani 2017; Russo and Scarnato 2018; Su 2015). As a unique and authentic means through which to brand their city (Caust and Veco 2017; Morgan and Pritchard 2004; Starr 2010), these ‘growth coalitions’ have seized upon heritage to attract investment, tourists, and residents (Evans 2009; MacLeod 2002; Storhammar et al. 2010) to foster economic growth. Despite the studied cities effectively attracting these groupings, however, they have remained economically precarious in absolute terms. This is because any form of entrepreneurial urbanism emphasises already wealthy groupings at the expense of the one-half to two-thirds of the population who are not valued for their finance or human capital, and who are more likely to permanently reside in a locale, be less well educated, and require social welfare (Cox and Jonas 1999; Goodhart 2017; Harvey 1996). Therefore, entrepreneurial urbanism invariably leads to deprivation and inequality. And, as heritage tourism becomes ever more prevalent (Bock 2015; Dunne, Flanagan, and Buckley 2010; IPK International 2013), such culturally conservative cities are increasingly likely to resort to this relatively easy economic option.

With the knowledge that heritage-led economic development is ineffective at achieving the aims of policymakers to consider the welfare of all, public institutions may best look towards the strategy set forth by DeFilippis (1999, 2004), and partially employed in Preston, UK, that seeks to embed more spatially fixed and equal forms of economic activity. In doing so, historic cities will reduce the entrepreneurial need to compete for mobile capital. Historic cities will always enjoy an enhanced quality of place. But it is only through seizing this opportunity that more vibrant and progressive cultures will emerge, and the very social challenges that such cultures are better equipped to overcome will be reduced. Further, these cultures are more able to tackle the urgent environmental challenges faced in the contemporary period (IPCC 2018). Inherent social and cultural values will also be realised with heritage not being viewed as an economic good (Lennox 2016; Veldpaus and Pendlebury 2023; Veldpaus et al. 2021).

In addition to consolidating heritage with entrepreneurial urbanism, these findings contribute understanding of how heritage links to the field of Cultural Economy as well as the concept of culture as a causal force associated with the field of Cultural Heritage. Notably, I had no pre-knowledge of the dynamics of the economic relationship between cities and their heritage presented in this article; with these being readily discussed by participants across the three studied cities. Despite this, many elements of the dynamic have never previously been identified by research. It may be that, as observed by Martin (2010), the freedom academics enjoy results in theory driven research. Future research may best employ inductive inquiry methodology to identify and address urban problems.

The insight in this article also ignites wider debates and, while I have explored the economic relationship between cities and their heritage in the context of the UK, there are implications for historic cities in any neoliberal state and further research may be best focused globally. If the lessons offered by this strand of research can be learned and applied, historic cities can move on from an excessive focus on the past that denies the problems of the present, to a new paradigm in which they can enjoy the aesthetics of the past while still working to create a more socially and environmentally progressive future.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).