The Public Sector

The Value of Culture and Leisure for the 6-City Collaboration 2024

The municipalities in the 6-city collaboration, which includes Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Randers, have entered into a partnership with Silverlining Research to estimate the overall value of the culture and leisure sector for both citizens and society.

Background

The municipalities in the 6-city collaboration (Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Randers Municipality) have partnered with Silverlining Research to estimate the total value of the culture and leisure sector for both citizens and society in their respective municipalities.

To achieve this, Silverlining Research has developed a specialized study design that draws on the latest research in the culture and leisure field, providing a thorough and nuanced analysis of the area. An individual report has been prepared for each municipality, and finally, a comparative report is being developed to analyze the results across the municipalities. The project is ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Method

The analysis of the value of culture and leisure consists of three sub-analyses:

1. The socioeconomic analysis, calculated using the LINE model, estimates the gross value added, employment, and tax revenue generated by the culture and leisure sector in each municipality.

2. Additionally, the perceived utility value of the municipalities’ culture and leisure sector is analyzed through the ‘Contingent Valuation Method’, which assesses citizens’ willingness to pay for the sector.

3. Finally, the analysis will focus on how the culture and leisure sectors provide both instrumental and intrinsic values for citizens.

Results

The analysis provides municipalities with data-driven insight into how the culture and leisure sector—not only through well-known values such as personal development, entertainment and learning—also contributes to citizen satisfaction and population growth. The reports furthermore demonstrate in detail that the culture and leisure sector supports the economy and employment and generates tax revenue for municipalities. All the results are now publicly available for everyone to see.