Platform – More than just the money

James Purnell is right to point to the economic impact that the creative industries can have in helping to achieve regeneration goals (p1) but there is a lot more to involving the arts in the regeneration agenda than simply job creation. Lots of industries from call-centres to casinos can bring money and jobs to an area: it is in the harder-to-quantify areas of community pride, civic ownership, quality of life, personal and community health, and national renown that culture can play a part. Landmark developments have shown the power of the arts to transform run-down neighbourhoods. Tate Modern and the Sage Gateshead have injected pride and cultural colour into areas that previously laboured under a drably monochrome image of decline. The key to both of these successes was local partnerships  with local authorities, agencies, other arts organisations and many smaller cultural businesses. The decision by Kent County Council to integrate plans for the Turner Contemporary Gallery into a broader cultural and leisure development (p3) could make good sense for more reasons than just the cost.
It is good to see multi-agency partnership at work in the new Where we live! initiative. For too long, sport and the arts have been set in opposition in the struggle for resources and political support. But the challenge for those planning the massive house-building schemes across the South East of England is to take advantage of what both sport and the arts can contribute. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister must force developers to learn from the mistakes of the 60s and 70s when the importance of developing communities and engaging residents in communal life was lost in the headlong rush to build low-cost housing. Both sport and the arts have the power to change lives and to plug people into their local community. They both offer people chances to participate and to be inspired by fellow citizens. They can both generate pride and social engagement as well as the all important money, offering a link to our cultural past and building bridges with other communities around the world. Slightly more than can be said of a telesales centre or a casino.

Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead, Co-editors