The role of cultural precincts as major tourism development initiatives in city centres. Case study : Newtown, Johannesburg City Centre
Date
2018
Authors
Ngwenya, Nonhlanhla Florence
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Abstract
As urban regeneration is increasingly taking place in many countries in the world, the
question of developing inner cities through cultural tourism is acquiring more
significance. Urban regeneration is capable of producing the economic benefits of the
city. It also has the potential of improving the physical environment of the city, the
image of the city and the welfare of the residents in the city centre. Hence many cities in
the developing and developed countries have amongst other things adopted the cultural
tourism led approaches to regenerate their cities. The development of cultural precincts
in city centres with the intention of promoting cultural tourism has played a significant
role in the development of local economic strategies. This research begins by examining
how has the concept of cultural precinct been developed, how has it been implemented
and how successful it has been in the so called ‘best practice’ model.
Secondly, the research focuses on the formation of Newtown Cultural Precinct and its
role as a tool for urban regeneration in the Johannesburg city center. It also explores the
criteria for cultural precincts in terms of international best practice and whether
Newtown meets these requirements. The first two chapters look at tourism background,
the methodology used to carry the study, the literature behind urban regeneration,
cultural tourism, the formation of Cultural Precincts and lastly Tourist Policy and
Organisation. The third chapter focuses on the formation of Newtown cultural precinct,
its infrastructure and architecture, heritage and cultural activities, marketing and
promotions of cultural activities and lastly nightlife in both cultural precincts Newtown
and U-Street. The fourth chapter which is the core of the study discusses and analyses
the findings of the research with regards to whether Newtown meets the criteria of the
world’s best practice model as a cultural precinct by making use of U-Street in
Washington DC and Bristol in the UK as a measuring stick. The study concludes with
some more general comments and recommendations in Chapter 5 as to how these goals
can be realised through the implementation of Newtown Cultural Precinct, for the
benefit of all sectors of the economy.
Description
A research report submitted to the Graduate School of Humanities, Social Sciences and
Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, towards the degree of Master
of Arts by Course work (Cultural and Heritage Studies)
Johannesburg, July 2018
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Citation
Ngwenya, Nonhlanhla Florence (2018) The role of cultural precincts as major tourism development initiatives in city centres. Case study :Newtown, Johannesburg City Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/27181