New Research Project: Can Cities Shift the Dial on Culture and Health?

The evidence that culture is good for our health is growing. Social prescribing programmes are expanding, arts-in-health initiatives are multiplying, and city leaders are increasingly recognising culture as a driver of wellbeing. But are we doing enough to move from individual pilots to lasting system change?

Social prescribing programmes are expanding, arts-in-health initiatives are multiplying, and city leaders are increasingly recognising culture as a driver of wellbeing. But are we doing enough to move from individual pilots to lasting system change?

That is the question at the heart of the Healing Arts World Cities Project between World Cities Culture Forum and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. The first phase of the project entitled: Culture and Wellbeing in Cities: A Narrative Review sets out to understand how cities around the world currently define, measure, and embed culture within their health and wellbeing systems, and where the greatest opportunities lie to shift the dial.

Despite growing momentum in this field, significant gaps remain. Culture is often absent, underrepresented, or narrowly defined in the indicator systems, dashboards, and governance frameworks that shape how cities act. Understanding those gaps, what gets counted, what gets connected, and what gets left out, is a necessary step towards the kind of city-led, systemic change that can make a real difference to people’s lives.

About the Healing Arts World Cities Project

The project is a collaboration led by World Cities Culture Forum and Jameel Arts & Health Lab. This partnership began at the World Cities Culture Summit 2024 in Dubai following the first Healing Arts Scotland, and has grown through continued engagement including the World Cities Culture Summit 2025 in Amsterdam.

Together, the team maps existing approaches to measuring culture and wellbeing, examines how cities connect cultural data with health goals, and generates illustrative examples to inform future policy and practice.

Key findings will be shared at the 15th World Cities Culture Summit in Tokyo, 28–30 October 2026, and will lay the ground for further collaborative work.

Share Your City’s Work

We are seeking examples from cities of all sizes. If your city has strategies, policy documents, evaluation frameworks, or case studies at the intersection of culture and health: from cultural strategies that reference wellbeing, to social prescribing initiatives and public health partnerships.

We want to hear from you!

Submit materials via our survey: https://form.jotform.com/261744752556061

Cities and networks who contribute will be acknowledged in all publications, and the research team will share emerging findings with participants.

Learn more about the project at the Jameel Arts & Health Lab.