Museums, Community Identity and Urban Heritage

Abstract

At a recent conference of the International Planning History Society, Michael Cohen, formerly of the World Bank, argued that ‘the city is missing in action’:

'While we, as urbanists, are passionate about our belief in the mysteries and potentialities of the city, and the role of the city in history — past, present, and future — the city is not present in some of the most important debates about the future of the planet.'

He went on to insist on a major role for cities in national economic and social development, particularly in countries governed within neo-liberal policy frameworks that generally ignore cities other than to see them as the geographical centres of finance and trade. Cohen's argument is that, if we are to improve economic growth rates, reduce poverty and inequality and create safety nets to cushion countries and their peoples from polarisation and other changes being wrought by globalisation, a larger role must be given to cities. The issue, he asserts, is ‘how to support urban economic policies to stimulate and sustain economic multipliers needed to generate employment and incomes’.