A panel discussion ‘How important is culture to world class developments’ was chaired by Futurecity founder Mark Davy yesterday as part of the ‘Making Places for Culture’ seminar hosted by the NLA and the Mayor of London.

Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture Munira Mirza and Sir Edward Lister, Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor, Policy and Planning were joined by local authorities and representatives from across the property and cultural sectors, to examine best-practice for growing cultural opportunities within the developments taking place across London.

The packed event saw the launch of the Mayor of London’s ‘A-Z of Planning and Culture’ – an essential planning guide for everyone concerned with shaping the capital’s cultural future.

Here are some of the sound bites from the event:

Welcome from Greater London Authority

Munira Mirza, Deputy Mayor for education and Culture, GLA

  • “Culture is London’s DNA.”
  • “4 out of 5 visitors to London say they come for culture and arts.”
  • “People drawn here to be part of the vibrant cultural landscape.”
  • “The launch of new James Bond movie Spectre is a good example why culture is important. It is a film based entirely on British talent.”
  • “London is the 3rd busiest film business in the world.”
  • “Many grassroots music venues and artist studios in London are closing. But they are incredibly vital to the larger picture.”
  •  “We need to reaffirm importance of culture in London.”

Sir Edward Lister, Chief of staff and Deputy Mayor, Policy and Planning, GLA

  • “This new guide is a joint piece of work between Culture at GLA and the Planning department.”
  • “The important thing is that we are a growing city and we are doing vast schemes.”
  • “London is a very green city and pleasant. And that is one of the reasons people invest in London. They are drawn to the night time economy, cultural institutions, theatres, restaurants…”
  • “£1.6 trillion to be spent if London keeps on growing.”
  • “We must build in placemaking elements into all of our new developments. We need to create space for new and small industries and for culture.”
  • “Creating new places must be more than a cold piece of planning, we must factor in culture.”

 

SESSION 1: The role of culture in London’s Placemaking

Why do we need more theatres in London?

Nick Starr, Co-founder and Chief Executive, London Theatre Company

  • “An important thing in the regeneration of National Theatre was to make a proper connection between the theatre and the river. We wanted to make it more explicit that we are part of the vibrant culture of London.”
  • “Lack in viable business models for existing theatres. It is very hard to find a business model that would satisfy all the requirements of an old West end theatre.”
  • “Apollo Theatre’s catastrophic ceiling collapse drew attention to the fact that many theatres in the West end are old and in need of renovation.”
  • “Audiences have grown in 25% in the last few years. There were 22 million theatre attendants in London in 2012/13. And almost half of the attendants are not to the commercial theatres, but to smaller and independent ones.”
  • “It is worth making a point that new experimental and immersive work is what is extremely popular these days.”
  • “Our new space is very inspiring. It is layed on basement and sub-basement level. There will also be a roof terrace. And that’s how you make a 900 seat theatre. Commercial theatres need to accommodate 800 seats and more to maintain sustainability.”
  • “This was a space that happened to be jut big enough. It is about the balance between the aesthetic and practical. It is important to test the new space with writers and designers to see if the space makes them excited.”
  •  “We need new theatres because the audiences are growing and London is a fantastic city. We need not only more theatres but new theatres.”
  •  “London looks east for new theatres.”

How is culture delivering local council priorities?

Jeremy Grint, Divisional Director of Regeneration, LB Barking and Dagenham

  • “We are interested in how to make spaces available to people in creative industries in particular.”
  • “Borough’s new leader has a strong vision for turning the borough into a new creative centre for East London.”
  • “We are aware of the importance of public realm. There are a number of new public squares fostering cultural activities.”
  • “The pop-up Pallet Pavilion at Barking town square was very successful. It has hosted all sorts of activities from parkour, reading and dancing to outdoor cinemas and community feasts. Didn’t cost council a lot of money. We received help from partners. The council invested only £5000 in it. But the return was huge.”
  • “Barking and Dagenham joining forces.
  • “In order to cement political buy in is important to make sure that culture is embedded in the town’s central strategy.”
  • “Barking Riverside is a new town centre created at the south of the borough. There is a real scope to create a new arts destination on the Thames.”
  • “The Ice House Quarter is now a key focus for creative industries in the borough. There are a number of buildings dedicated creative industries only. We are also using some of these flats for affordable arts spaces. It is led by Bow Arts Trust.”
  • “What’s next? We want to establish a creative industries zone. Our aim is to continue creating affordable spaces for artists.”
  • “The two key elements are political commitment and establishing partnerships.”
  • “We are also looking at meanwhile uses and the ability for artist to come down there now to build it as a destination for themselves.”

The above speakers were then joined by two other speakers for the first panel discussion:

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Historic England

  • “Connection between creativity and historic places is very strong.”
  • “Historical buildings, suitably modified, can attract new interest and audiences.”
  • “We recognize that resourcing for heritage elements within local plans for is very hard. It is very significant that we meet those aspirations of establishing the framework for historic buildings within the planning structure.”
  • “There are an number of amazing historic spaces in London that have found new identities through culture and creativity, such as Somerset House and National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.”

Justine Simons, Head of Culture, GLA

  • “Getting from A to B is not enough for a world city like London. We want our cities to be livable and maintain a distinctive character. We must not feel disconnect or unfulfilled. Culture will help us get beyond A to B approach. It gives the city distinctiveness and character.”
  •  “London ranks 53rd in the Economist’s Livability Index.”
  • “There is something about the creative community that helps to create an identity for London.”
  • “Artist are the advance of the city. They uncover disused spaces. But we want to maintain the balance. Bold Tendencies that took over old car park in Peckham has done more to property prices than any advertising campaign.”
  • “The challenge is that culture is still seen as an add on, it is a thing that gets cut and is thus vulnerable. There is a significant urgency around this.”
  • “We need new kind of civic leadership to maintain such a crucial aspect of this city.”
  • “Placemaking and culture mean different things to people. There are three things to remember. Firstly, we need to retain authenticity. Secondly, culture and placemaking need to be embedded within planning and be creative, they can not be stuck on later. Lastly, we don’t want it to be too regulated.”
  • “Creativity is messy. We need everyone to embrace this uncertainty.”
  • “We also need to keep in mind the changing nature of artistic work and the need for new spaces. We have set up an experimental round table to look at what are the pinch points of creating the spaces that are needed and we are looking for people to join!”

 

SESSION 2: Delivering London’s cultural infrastructure.

Launch of A-Z of Planning and Culture

Stewart Murray, Assistant Director of Planning, GLA

  • “This new A-Z of Planning and Culture is a good example of collaborative working across London. This guide is helping the planning process to maintain the cultural venues across London.”
  • “Planning is a creative force that can work with creative sector to encourage communities to grow successfully.”
  • “This guide is not just visionary but also has practical tools.”
  • “London heading towards a mega city of 10 million and plus.”
  • “It is important to send a message to the local authorities that they can make a positive change.”
  • “There is an inherent tension between existing cultural offers and new development and regeneration coming forward. We don’t need to sweep everything off the map.”
  • “We also want to encourage community ownership.”
  • “The guide recognizes the embedding of culture in the planning structures.”
  • “We need to embed culture in new town centres and regeneration areas.”
  • “GLA’s Panning Department has started to recognise culture’s role in the planning process.”
  • “We are working towards making London the best cultural space on the planet.”

Why do we need artists and creative in London?

Marcel Baetting, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bow Arts

  • “Bow Arts is 20 years old this year.”
  • “It was one of the first charitable enterprises in London. At the time it meant we had to be community focused. We had to talk to local communities and listen very carefully. Our work evolved around investment in culture and how to engage with these local communities.”
  • “We need to deal with many issues of planning in our many projects across London.”
  • “We recently opened a new complex of 90 artist studios in London Docks. It was a venture with property developers St George.”
  • “We are also about to open 30 new artist studios in the Old Manor Park Library.”
  • “We are the largest education providers in London, working with huge number of schools.”
  • “We go out to the communities and invite them back to our spaces.”
  • “Most of our sites now also involve café or public space.”
  • “Also the digital aspect is very important to us. Two successful examples are platform for artists called London Artist Quarter and Artist Studio Finder which is a free resource for artist to advertise.”
  • “Bow Arts is not is the centre of our business model. Artists are at the centre of our business model.”
  • “We also have a new film on the website to celebrate the 20 year anniversary.”

How do we make London a centre for creative production?

Nick Hartwright, Director, The Mill Co Project

  • “The Mill Co Project was founded in 2010. To begin with we had a lot of networking events – these start conversation that create new ideas that then turn into new creative spaces.”
  • “We are constantly exploring how can we be more intelligent with our partners – working with developer, GLA, local boroughs etc. It is about the organisations that work together.”
  • “We have over 100 SMEs we have brought forward in the last 3 years.”
  • “We are providing studio and rehearsal spaces but also free spaces for new people starting the ventures.”
  • “We help out businesses that have little resources but a lot of potential. That is now feeding us back.”
  • “Mandrian Wharf was empty for three years. In 2012 we took this bulging on and fitted 6 new studios. There are now 40 tenants in there. It is an exciting place to live in.”
  • “As a result of the Green Rooms model there will be an affordable hotel for creative workers that come to London.”
  • “You have to make sure that engage with the local community from day one. Good example is the Rose Lipmann building for us.”
  • “There is a real opportunity to bring all of this forward. If you want to keep the creative workspaces running for longer then you need to make the organisations own the spaces.”
  • “It is also important to have blended rent schemes.”
  • “My response to the changes currently happening around creative workspaces is always positive. It is important to keep on exploring how to bring artists into placemaking and new developments. What worries me is that we don’t end up with a lot of green washing creative spaces.”
  • “The conversations around creative workspaces are definitely much more sophisticated now.”

The above speakers were then joined by three additional speakers for the second panel discussion, chaired by Mark Davy:

Adam Cooper, Senior Cultural Strategy Officer – Creative Industries, GLA

  • “With this new guide we are creating the conditions for culture to flourish.”
  • “The planning frame allows for the planning and culture to coexist. We have been talking about the relatively narrow definition of culture today. We of course should not loose sight of all the other aspects.”

David Roberts, Deputy Chief executive, Igloo regeneration

  • “What we have been working to identify recently is how can we bring on the occupiers that can own the creative workspaces.”
  • “It can be quite an intimidating world to step into.”

Anna Strongman, Senior Projects Director, Argent

  • “We have got a lot of cultural partners in our public realm in Kings Cross. They help create successful places that people are proud of.”
  • “We are of course driven by commercial imperatives and need to always weigh the pros and cons from that perspective.”
  • “But there is also a question about band and good culture. We have to sometimes make that call in this respect. There is a lesson in terms of backlog of people who work in the property sector. There is something about encouraging people with wider backgrounds to get involved in the property sector.”
  • “In terms of our public art, when we started we got bombarded with a number of projects and we accepted all of them. But it was bad a decision and it did not all work out well. After that we appointed a curator to oversee the artistic programme. This relationship has been challenging but out of the tensions that rose we have created some of our best projects.”
  • “We are always open to new suggestions. It is important to have a meaningful discussion about what the artist can provide and having the understanding the benefits on either side.”
  • “It is also about new tenants. You have to look at the cultural capital that is already there. Also be willing to invest into ideas that are not as attractive at the beginning but have more potential.”
  • “Central St Martin’s is an amazing organisation but it took a long time to find the appropriate people to speak to. Sometimes there are misinterpretations on both sides.”
  • “We also need to talk about what didn’t work in the past. We are constantly presented with new challenges and the thoughts on either side do not always align.”
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