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The Cultural Industry and the Scenes of Dalian: Culture As a Driver of Development
Jong Youl Lee, Incheon National University
Chad Anderson, Incheon National University
Bo Wang, Incheon National University
China has continued to undergo rapid development in the past decade even as individual cities and provinces have pursued different paths to development. Data from the top 99 cities in China for the decade from 2000 to 2010 show that culture has become one path to urban development, particularly through the development of tourism and fixed cultural investments.
Dalian is a good example of a city that has combined both of these trends. The city considers culture to be one of the five leading industries and considers integration of cultural resources and capital, science and technology, and even urban layout and planning. Spending on culture has been increasing from year to year, increasing five times over from 2002 to 2011. The cultural industry is centered on contents like animated games, film and drama, media contents, new cultural creativity, as well as on tourism and has become a new pole of rapid growth. Much of the city's growth has been driven by the cultural contents industry as well as by tourism driven by a unique mix of amenities, the non-market features that affect the city.
This study details the Dalian model of development by connecting the developmental trends to the city’s cultural industry and tourism features. This is done by detailing Dalian’s overall urban experience through defining the city’s scenes. The mix of amenities in Dalian provides the lived experience of the city residents who provide the workforce in the cultural contents industry driving development in the city. At the same time, the overall urban scene provides an experience luring tourists both domestically and from abroad to the city.