Cities; culture and regeneration

There is now a growing realisation that the look and feel of a place is critically important to its development and regeneration.

There has been a proliferation of cultural projects in the last few decades, increasing in number and magnitude. This has been accompanied by the increasing importance of symbols such as the award of ‘European Capital of Culture’ or the Olympics.

By differentiating themselves from each other by the presence of large cultural projects, cities such as Barcelona, Frankfurt and Birmingham successfully remarketed themselves as centres of innovation and attractive places to invest, work and visit.

The availability of culture and amenities in a city and the ‘feel’ of a city directly influence the decisions of individuals to move to a place, thus the likelihood that a convergence of people with a particular skill set will drive economic growth in a locality; city development policies may deliberately create places to attract certain highly desirable incomers.

Many recognisable cultural projects are comprised of ‘icons’ – large scale cultural facilities such as the BALTIC project at Gateshead or the Eden Project in Cornwall. These ambitious projects undoubtedly capture public interest and may generate considerable revenue if successful. However, it is questionable whether the benefits of iconic projects accrue to local people.

The creation of ‘cultural quarters’ in cities such as Sheffield, Nottingham and areas of London, such as Hoxton, are cited for their catalytic effect on economic and employment growth in areas of high unemployment and industrial decline. The knock on effect is often a general uplifting of neighbouring areas.

A relatively new rationale for the rise of cultural input within cities is the creation of a ‘sense of place’. This is tied in with the Government’s Sustainable Communities Plan and the concept of ‘neighbourhood renewal’

Allied to this there has been a proliferation of projects ‘Delivering For Communities, With Communities', programmes such as Creative Partnerships – delivered through the Arts Council England, with funding of over £115 million over four years and aiming to motivate young people in deprived areas though creative production.

There are some underlying cautionary issues: the need for communities to be involved, the risk of gentrification and the lack of sustainability of some major ventures, for example. Cultural commentators such as Booth and Boyle have illustrated how the creation of a certain ‘look and feel’ may deliberately exclude some people.

Finally, it is important to recognise that other factors are important, both to city and region growth and development and, tangentially, to democratising access to culture. These include the quality of public services, and a coherent long term urban development strategy.