Sydney launches cultural strategy with plans for a new Creative Land Trust to boost affordable artist workspace

Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO, has unveiled a new cultural strategy aimed at nurturing and expanding the city’s cultural life and workforce over the next decade. At the heart of this initiative is the establishment of a Creative Land Trust, designed to acquire and develop affordable workspace for Sydney’s artists, makers, musicians and performers. The Creative Land Trust model, first pioneered by San Francisco, is increasingly being used by creative cities to address the need for more creative workspaces. 

As rent and living costs continue to rise, creatives often struggle afford to live and work in global cities. Without intervention from city governments, the pressures of rapid urbanization threaten a rapid decline in artist studios. 

Governments at all levels need to urgently work together to retain, rebuild and restore creative spaces.

Clover Moore AO, Lord Mayor of Sydney

Over the past decade, Sydney’s cultural infrastructure has shrunk by the equivalent of three Sydney Opera Houses, with a notable 11% decrease in local artists. In research carried out by the City of Sydney, average weekly rent in Sydney is 62% of an average artist income and residential rental costs are the primary reason artists are leaving the city. 

The City of Sydney already invests $34 million (AUD) in arts and culture, supporting nearly 1,700 creative businesses as well as city-wide events and public art commissions. But without accessible spaces for artists to create and reside, Sydney’s creative economy is under threat. 

The announcement was made at a panel discussion ‘Making space for culture – the future of Sydney’s creative economy’ at Sydney Town Hall on 12 June. Joined by Justine Simons OBE, Founder and Chair of World Cities Culture Forum and London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture, New South Wales Special Minister of State, John Graham MLC, Chair of Sydney Film Festival, Darren Dale, and other cultural leaders, the event explored solutions to support and sustain Sydney’s creative sector amidst significant challenges. 

“The creative economy operates like an ecosystem. To have blockbuster exhibitions in top galleries like Tate in London or the Museums of Contemporary Art in Sydney, our artists need space to create,” said Justine Simons OBE, emphasizing the critical role of affordable workspace. 

Sydney’s proposal for a Creative Land Trust draws inspiration from successful models such as San Francisco’s Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), founded in 2013, and  London’s Creative Land Trust, which have secured long term affordable workspace for artists through innovative funding mechanisms and partnerships with philanthropists, investors, and government bodies. The basic principle behind the scheme is that a not-for-profit body is set up to buy and long-lease buildings which are then rented back to creatives at affordable rents.  

Through World Cities Culture Forum’s Leadership Exchange Programme, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Creative Land Trust model is already being replicated in Austin and Melbourne. By bringing together global cities such as Sydney, Amsterdam, Austin, London, New York, San Francisco and Warsaw, the programme has helped fast-track best practice for retaining creative talent. 

San Fransisco’s CAST model recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary and has gone from strength to strength. London set up a Creative Land Trust in 2019 with the goal of owning more than 1,000 studios to be used by artists and makers in perpetuity. By securing a blend of funding from donors, investors, and grant-givers, the Trust sustains the future of London’s studios through the purchase of freeholds or long leases, gifts, and asset transfers. Using local agreements, the Creative Land Trust sets affordable rents based on transparent assessments of local conditions. 

Sydney will provide seed funding for a new Creative Land Trust and work with the property industry to put underused commercial property to creative use. 

The Lord Mayor of Sydney commented: “The scale of the loss of creative spaces is too great for any of us to tackle alone. Governments at all levels need to urgently work together to retain, rebuild and restore creative spaces close to affordable housing,” 

“A trust would be an independent, not-for-profit entity with a board of trustees that takes land out of the private market and places it in the hands of the cultural sector for good. It can build a portfolio from philanthropic and other private investors, and it can manage properties from the City of Sydney and other governments.”