Cultural Quarters: Principles and Practice

This book provides for the first time in a single volume an explanation of the principles and practice employed in considering, developing and establishing cultural quarters. It takes examples largely drawn from the North of England, Ireland and Austria. The emphasis on case studies from the North of England is due to the need to regenerate the old manufacturing towns, avert decline and provide employment. Ireland and Austria provide instances of new building development. The volume is structured to assist local authority planners and economic development staff, as well as public agencies responsible for supporting and developing the cultural and creative industries. In addition, it provides a useful reference guide for those considering establishing a quarter or studying the subject.

Cultural quarters have become an important concept in the UK, particularly with local authorities, as an increasingly flexible solution to urban development. In addition, there has been considerable interest in the creative cities concept, which has been thoroughly examined by Charles Landry in “Creative Cities”, and Justin O’Connor, “the Creative City”. This emerging discipline is developed and extended in this book by focusing on the “how” and “what” of cultural quarters, from a predominantly cultural perspective. A major concern in public sector cultural policy is how cultural practice is maintained and expanded without substantially increasing the public financial contribution. This has led to a deepening engagement with cultural economy arguments by governments, cultural agencies and local authorities, which inevitably gives rise to the question of sustainability. The book examines ways of sustaining cultures which rely less on State intervention, and the role of cultural quarters in the cultural economy.

The book was very positively reviewed in Transition ®Tradition. It builds on earlier work published in the following journals; Journal of the Centre for Reform (2002) and Revisita De Museologia (2001).