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Legal & General acknowledge the importance of cultural infrastructure within future cities
In a new report commissioned by Legal & General, architects, property developers and local planners need to better prioritise music venues and listen more closely to artists and performers when designing regeneration schemes.
9 Oct 2019
Report authors Sound Diplomacy, a consultancy that advised the mayors of London, New York and Barcelona on cultural policy and night time economy, says that mapping out music businesses, creating more mixed-use developments and undertaking more meaningful community engagement could help architects and planners reverse the decline of music venues. The report proposes key recommendations to foster culture across the built environment, providing a long-term plan for redeveloping UK cities, including:
- Map the cultural offering of a neighbourhood – understanding the needs of a neighbourhood before submitting the initial planning proposal
- Community outreach – inviting local artists to consult with designers and developers during planning
- Use future tax levies to fund development – by understanding the economic value cultural developments can have on a community, the report suggests engaging with local authorities and businesses to approve a tax on all cultural events to support a future funding model
As a result, at The Lexicon, Legal & General invested £200 million into the development of a retail and leisure space, which transformed the town of Bracknell and established a strong music culture, including their own Lexicon Proms.
John Cummins, Managing Director of Future Cities: "It’s easy to think about investment in terms of pounds and pence, but when you look at any city across the world, places will either thrive or not depending on the cultural or sporting legacies that underpin them. We of course need jobs and great housing, but we also need places to enjoy your life, it all of these things together that will make our future cities better. Britain has lost over a third of its music venues over the last decade... despite live music events generating a contribution of £991 million to the UK economy."
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