Introduction

A consideration of the arts and culture in the economic life of towns, cities and regions opens up the spatial dimensions of creative activity. Where do creative businesses locate? What impact do art galleries or performing companies have on their surrounding communities? How do cultural factors affect the quality of life for the urban population? A consideration of these questions will draw extensively on the previous two chapters' discussions of the cultural industries and of heritage, and will also look forward to the following chapter on tourism. Indeed, since local economies are in a sense microcosms of larger national systems, virtually every topic treated in this volume has its own particular interpretation when applied at an urban or regional level.

It has been recognised for some time that the arts and culture contribute to urban life and to the economic development of towns and cities in a number of ways, including the following:

• Artistic and cultural activities at the local level can provide social engagement and employment-creation opportunities that may be useful, for example, as a means of re-engaging displaced social groups such as marginalised youth.

• Strong cultural infrastructure and an active artistic life can be important in creating ‘sustainable cities’ and in attracting inward investment to an urban region by providing agreeable living and working conditions for staff of in-migrating enterprises.

• […]