Creative cities and sustainable development: Mural-based tourism as a local public strategy

Abstract

Creative locations become a key element of public regeneration strategies and develop innovative services based on intellectual proper ty. Some communities that have chosen to develop their tourism potential through the use of murals have improved their local development in a sustainable way, thus meeting a need expressed by tourists to create a more active experience with an opportunity for the destination to embed experiences in the locality. In this study, which was carried out as par t of an international cooperation research project with Uruguay, we have explored whether Uruguayan mural art may be a way for Uruguayan towns to develop sustainable, creative, mural-based tourism. We used a qualitative content analysis, through in-person interviews, and found that its potential has not been exploited due to the lack of an organized public strategy.