Measure for Measure: Evaluating the Evidence of Culture’s Contribution to Regeneration

Culture-led regeneration, as it has come to be known, is now a feature of cities—old and new—as they seek to revive former industrial and waterfront sites and city centres, and establish themselves as competitive cities of culture. At the same time, the rationale for cultural input to area and neighbourhood regeneration has been extended to include quality of life, as well economic outcomes. The evidence of how far flagship and major cultural projects contribute to a range of regeneration objectives is, however, limited. Measuring the social, economic and environmental impacts attributed to the cultural element in area regeneration is problematic and the ‘evidence’ is seldom robust. The paper reviews both evidence and the indicators used to measure impacts and concludes with an assessment of how and why gaps in evidence persist.