Cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities: Spontaneous formation and 'Laissez-Faire' development

Abstract

This article is concerned with cultural economies in the post-industrial city and examines the phenomenon of cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities. In the first part, the article discusses the key role of cultural economies in the post-industrial city and presents types of cultural clusters in inner city areas. The second part focuses on Greek cities and analyses three cultural and leisure clusters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos. The article documents the spontaneous formation and the 'laissez-faire' development of such clusters; it records the shift of land uses and the transformations of urban landscape, and also highlights the urban policies involved. Finally, it draws conclusions on the formation and management of cultural and leisure clusters, especially the differences among large cities in the core of Europe and large Mediterranean cities in the developing periphery of Europe.