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Montreal is hardly alone in seeking to make the most of its cultural attractions and sense of creativity. Cities around the world are in brisk competition with each other for the kind of well-heeled tourist who travels for cultural experiences, whether art, sculpture, music or architecture.

Investment in culture can reap enormous dividends for a city. Bilbao was largely unknown outside northern Spain until the Guggenheim Museum built its extraordinary stone, glass and titanium museum in the Basque city. Within three years of its 1997 inauguration, the museum had prompted a 54-per-cent growth in tourism.

Similarly, the Eden Project, an environmental complex in Cornwall in Britain, has added more than $1.5 billion to the local economy and attracted more than 7.5 million tourists in five years of operation.

For a city's own residents, investment in culture offers what are often considered intangible benefits, a heightened sense of pride and the feeling of living in a stimulating environment. A city that enjoys the support and esteem of its residents and politicians becomes a place able to attract investment and boost employment. Success engenders success and in the end there is nothing intangible about additional investment and more jobs.