As artists continue to be priced out of the UK capital, Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has called on developers to include cultural spaces and studios in regeneration schemes in the city. London is due to lose 3,500 artist studios in the next five years—a third of the capital’s creative workspaces.
A report published by Johnson on 26 October provides guidance for councils, planners, developers and cultural organisations on how the planning process can protect and sustain creative spaces in London, from galleries to workshops, music venues and skateparks. An A-Z of Planning and Culture offers examples of how arts spaces have been successfully incorporated into residential developments such as Matchmakers Wharf in Hackney, east London, which includes 49 affordable artists’ studios.
The report also provides information about what people can do using existing planning regulations, including Section 106 agreements, which oblige developers to offset any negative impacts of a development, and turning venues into assets of community value.
“As London continues to grow and prosper, there is a critical need to build more homes for Londoners, but this should not be at the expense of our culture and distinctiveness, which are hugely important for our economy,” Johnson says. His report notes that tourists spend £13bn in London every year, with eight out of ten people citing culture as a reason to visit. One striking statistic, according to the report, is that the British Museum gets more visitors than the whole of Belgium.
To coincide with the publication of the guide, around 250 developers, planners and cultural leaders met at City Hall to discuss how culture can play a central role in London’s future development. A report looking at new models of funding for artists’ studios is due to be published by the mayor in 2016.
