The Heritage Value of the Craft Sector in Fast-Growing Cities

Culture is a key dimension in the history of cities where the design of urban development strategies combines the aim to preserve the wealth of cultural heritage with the search for contemporary progress. Along the centuries, arts and crafts have always occupied an important place in the life of cities because they contribute to preserve local identity and traditions through skills, they provide jobs and contribute to the local economy, and they are a source of interest for cultural tourism. Historically, artisan workshops are to be found in cities, where the high concentration of people and products provides the perfect framework for buying raw materials and selling the final products in markets. Today, workshops have often been substituted by industrializations and those left are increasingly being forced out of the city or to die to leave space to new businesses. What is the place of handicraft today? Is there still a strong linkage between handicraft and places? And what has been the role of public policies in encouraging (or discouraging) this kind of activity in the past century? The article discusses these questions and provides examples taken from the observation of the historical and sociopolitical context of handicrafts in India. The conclusion reflects over handicraft as a marginalized sector with great potential to become a driver of sustainable development in cities.