Introduction and Key Findings

Written by John Newbigin, OBE – Editorial Director, World Cities Culture Report: 5th Edition

Key Data

• 260 million people represented across the World Cities Culture Forum network
• 1.3 billion tourists welcomed by our cities
• 120,329 heritage and historic sites
• 3,021 museums
• 4,012 public libraries
• 4,157 theatres
• 3,041 cinemas
• 1,086 cultural centres
• 4,150 live music venues
• 1,096 higher education providers
• 5,743 night clubs, discos and dance halls

As the last World Cities Culture Report was published in 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic appeared to be nearing its end. It seemed possible, once again, to feel optimistic about the future as cities slowly came back to life. The research we commissioned showed how our cities had responded to the crisis with a wealth of imaginative ideas; engaging citizens, changing work practices and demonstrating the extent to which the cultural life of communities was more essential than ever as economic life ground to a halt.

However, three years later it seems that the pandemic only opened the door to new but equally demanding challenges. Misinformation and a mistrust of politics and expertise has intensified.  The rules-based global order that has underpinned much of the world’s trade and diplomacy is fragmenting. The global economy, though growing again, feels fragile and unpredictable, making investors and planners uncertain of how to prepare for the future.  The rapid development of AI is creating unprecedented opportunities and challenges. If there is one aspect of the future that does seem clear it is that the consequences of climate change will become ever more apparent. All these elements have contributed to a sense of instability and insecurity that has, in turn, contributed to a growing crisis of stress and anxiety that seems to have equal impact on young and old in almost every region of the world.

As trust between nations breaks down, the role of cities as connectors and partners between people and cultures becomes more significant. And as individual anxiety and isolation increases, the value of vibrant and inclusive communities grows. The great cities of the world now find themselves, unmistakably, in a leadership role – culture is the key. It’s culture that gives cities their unique distinctiveness and is the foundation of mutual respect between cities and nations. It’s culture that makes the city liveable and it’s culture that contributes to prosperity, not only as a generator of jobs and growth but as a source of the pride and confidence that are themselves the real foundation of economic growth. Cities shape culture and culture shapes cities. 

All this brings the role of World Cities Culture Forum into sharp focus. The Covid-19 pandemic showed that the rapid exchange of information and ideas between cities sparked effective responses to an evolving crisis and enabled city administrations to give each other confidence and support.  In preparing this 5^th Edition of the World Cities Culture Report we, have, once again, asked cities to share some of their most successful initiatives. We have integrated these with short essays from experts on topics that cities have told us give them present concern – climate, the night-time economy, the need for affordable workspace for artists and creatives, the accelerating impact of tourism on city residents, the impact of AI, and much more. 

We have gone big on data in this Report, because big data is becoming an essential tool for all urban management and planning. Data provides solid evidence of trends that might otherwise be invisible. Our data shows that cultural engagement and activity is recovering from the crisis of the pandemic, but in some key areas is not yet back to its pre-pandemic levels. In 2022 we reported an 8% decline in the number of theatres; this year our data shows an increase, but it is just under 1%. Live music venues have fared a little better; the 3.5% drop we recorded in 2022 has been turned round by 3.2% growth this year. The number of cinemas has grown overall, but by a small margin.

The more encouraging news is that levels of participation have unmistakably bounced back. Figures in our 2022 report showed that visits to museums, and live performance events, including music, had dropped by half – or more – compared to pre-pandemic levels. This year our cities are able to report that 40% of their residents have visited a museum, with 35% listening to live music and 46% attending other kinds of live performance. Our cities hosted an astonishing 1.3 billion tourists, emphasising the close links between culture and tourism but an indicator, too, that the growth of tourism can pose a threat to the quality of life of a city’s residents and can overwhelm its infrastructure. To explore this, we have included a section on initiatives that promote sustainable tourism. 

As well as cultural activity, our data provides evidence of recovering growth in creative and cultural businesses, but while the number of businesses and workers may be growing, the size of creative businesses is not. The creative industry has always been dominated by micro-businesses and freelancers, so it is not surprise that our data shows that the average number of employees in creative companies is just seven, highlighting the continuing and growing need for affordable and flexible workspaces in urban areas. 94% of our cities say they have active policies for this purpose and, elsewhere in this report you can read about some of the imaginative ideas now taking shape around the world.   

This Report reflects the shared challenges our cities face and the energy and diversity of responses they are generating to meet them. We have included perspectives on the growing night-time economy (97% of our cities have active policies), on initiatives related to young people and education (97% have policies) and on culture-related climate action, where 88% of our cities have policies in place or under development.

Good data not only illuminates what’s happening in the present, it is essential for planning and assessing future cultural policies, just as it for any other aspect of good city administration. That’s why we have partnered with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), drawing on their long-established expertise to ask cities for more detailed information about their cultural provision, its impact, and how that impact is measured and analysed to inform policy going forwards. As with our guiding mission, this is about collaboration not competition. We want to encourage cultural planners everywhere to build robust databases and use the best analytical tools.

That makes sense at a time when culture budgets in many parts of the world are under pressure, sometimes because of challenges in the wider economy, but sometimes because city administrations find themselves at odds with national governments and national priorities. Collecting reliable data is not easy.  As major cities continue to expand and become city regions, even defining what a city is can become a difficult question to answer, so that quantitative measures of cultural provision and activity may be challenging. To measure the quality and true impact of culture can be even more demanding but new data tools and analytics offer all cities a long-term opportunity not only to spend their budgets wisely but to build a better understanding of and relationship with the citizens that a cultural policy is intended to serve.

We hope that cities everywhere find this report a valuable resource to share good ideas, expand their evidence base, and continue to make the case for culture as a vital component of urban policy.