This compelling book offers a fresh and novel approach to study cultural and artistic expression from the perspective of ‘the commons’. It demonstrates how identifying cultures as shared resources is useful in eliciting the main factors and social dilemmas affecting the production and evolution of cultural expression.

Contents: Preface PART I: ENTERING THE FIELD 1. Defining Cultural Commons Enrico Bertacchini, Giangiacomo Bravo, Massimo Marrelli and Walter Santagata 2. Constructing a New Research Agenda for Cultural Commons Charlotte Hess 3. Cultural Commons and Cultural Evolution Giangiacomo Bravo PART II: FROM CULTURAL DISTRICTS TO CULTURAL COMMONS 4. The Cultural Economy of Landscape and Prospects for Peripheral Development in the Twenty-first Century: The Case of the English Lake District Allen J. Scott 5. Overlapping Cultural Commons and Districts in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area: Potentials for Local Economic Development Clara Bocchino and Michael Murphree 6. Structure and Evolution of Two Cultural Commons: Italian Futurism and Milanese Design Paola Fiorentino and Martha Friel 7. Food, Gastronomy and Cultural Commons Christian Barrère, Quentin Bonnard and Véronique Chossat PART III: UNDERSTANDING HERITAGE AS CULTURAL COMMONS 8. Heritage as Cultural Commons: Towards an Institutional Approach of Self-governance Yan Zhang 9. Cultural Commons and New Concepts Behind the Recognition and Management of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Aldo Buzio and Alessio Re PART IV: CULTURAL COMMONS IN THE VIRTUAL AND DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT 10. The Role of Mediated Communities in Producing and Sharing Digital Cultures Xavier Greffe 11. Virtual Worlds, Online Gaming Communities and Cultural Commons Enrico Bertacchini and Paola Borrione 12. Opera 2.0: Crowdsourcing the Stage Alessandra Carbone and Michele Trimarchi PART V: CONCLUSION 13. Cultural Commons: A New Perspective on the Production and Evolution of Cultures Enrico Bertacchini, Giangiacomo Bravo, Massimo Marrelli and Walter Santagata Index

’The concept of the commons as a shared resource capable of yielding collective benefits to people is a well-established one in the social sciences, but its extension to jointly-owned cultural resources is relatively new. This pioneering book explores the idea of a cultural commons as it can be applied in a wide range of areas, including landscapes, art and design, gastronomy, heritage, the performing arts and the on-line world. Although the book's chapters are written mainly from the perspective of cultural economics, the scope of the volume is truly interdisciplinary. The book is more than just a comprehensive introduction to the topic. It is also a source of original ideas that will act as a stimulus to further research in the field.’ - David Throsby, Macquarie University, Australia