1. Current trends and perspectives

2. Some aspects of the present crisis, and their implications for public space and public social life The dangerous temptations of right and left-wing populism, anti-intellectualism and ‘anti-politics’ Public expenditure cuts are reducing the already meagre budgets for economic, social and environmental innovation But innovation is more and more required: European cities are stuck for solutions to their economic, environmental and social problems

3. The increasing power of the elites of the super-rich Growing socio-economic polarisation and inequality Spatial segregation and the emergence of ‘ gated communities’ The shrinking of the State (including the welfare state) and the advocacy of the ‘Big Society’ (David Cameron)

4. Ethnic competition for diminishing welfare resources The ‘undeserving poor’ as one of the ‘enemies within’: benefits cuts and negative cultural representations The redefinition of ‘fairness’

5. The attack on artists and intellectuals: the arts, universities and public service broadcasting as targets The rise of anti-politics and the emergence of charismatic leaders who are not professional politicians Corruption scandals, the complexity of multi-level governance and the difficulty of making Europe economically competitive stimulate anti-politics

6. Divisive ethno-nationalism and the attack on immigrants: The risk of growing fear of ‘the other’ Islamophobia as an integral part of populist projects Shift to the right in political discourse The importance of the grassroots cultural activities of the populist and xenophobic right (e.g. of the Northern League in Italy), exploiting the vacuum left by secularisation and by the crisis of Social Democratic parties and movements

7. The rise of illegality and organized crime: exploitation of immigrants people trafficking links with the legal economy and ‘respectable’ politicians The emergence of lawless neighbourhoods and cities

9. The standardisation and corporatisation of city centres The ‘anywhere’ shopping mall

10. Urban sprawl The rhetoric of environmental sustainability, the tyranny of car dependency and the ‘obese city’

11. The dull new public realm of ‘anywhere’ out-of-town shopping centres Urban sprawl

12. CHANGE

13. Urban cultural policies in the context of the economic downturn The ‘triple’ (credit, energy and climate) crunch (New Economics Foundation) A new focus on production and skills? Creative cities for the world (Charles Landry): beyond destructive forms of urban competitiveness New priorities: reducing the negative impacts of unemployment finding new uses for redundant buildings fostering a climate of resilience, exploration and innovation

14. Urban cultural policies in the context of the economic downturn Decline of community facilities Impact of reductions in availability of benefits Less money for culture-led regeneration projects Lower priority to artistic and creative practices in schools

15. Lower cost of premises for cultural activities More opportunities for experimental artistic interventions Less bureaucracy and red tape Possible new funding partnerships New ‘sub-cultural’ and internet-based forms of participation Growing cultural hybridity New types of cultural institutions, beyond divides between culture and commerce, production and display

17. The problems generated by focusing funding on consumption activities, flagship buildings and citycentres Multiple deprivation in many inner urban and peripheral areas Social exclusion: the importance of access policies, ‘soft boundaries’ and public space networks Community artists: from revolutionaries to trainers? Urban cultural policies and social inclusion

18. Strategies for community engagement ‘ New commissioning’ Participatory budgeting Invitation policies Social interaction, not community cohesion Importance of the ‘porosity’ and permeability of cultural institutions Urban cultural policies and social inclusion

20. The growth of immigration and multi-ethnicity National approaches to managing ethnic diversity are being questioned Corporate multiculturalism (UK, Netherlands) The search for alternative concepts - e.g. integration and community cohesion

21. The debate around the concept of ‘ interculturalism’ and its applications Definitions What makes a place intercultural? The value of conflict Cultivating ‘cultural literacy’: creating new local glossaries Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

22. The debate around the concept of ‘ interculturalism’ and its applications The temptation of ‘theming’ ethnic quarters Exploring shared histories and heritage Holistic cultural/social/health centres: the Peepul Centre, Leicester European initiatives: the EU’s Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) and the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities research project (www.coe.int/interculturalcities) Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

23. The Intercultural City , by Phil Wood and Charles Landry, London, Earthscan, 2008 Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

24. Counteracting Ethnic Segregation in Urban Space and Public Life The strategic siting of cultural infrastructure: examples from England, Austria and Portugal Intercultural architecture, public art and urban design Countering ethnic stigmatisation through place marketing: Hyson Green, Nottingham From multicultural to intercultural festivals: examples from Rotterdam, Edinburgh , Berlin and Manchester Diversifying the airwaves Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

25. innovation-oriented, experimental, not narrowly instrumental: need to open up policy systems to young talent, and to set up pilot projects and R&D budgets need to reassess ideas of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres Learning from the processes of cultural production, which tend to be

26. critical, questioning, challenging: welcoming conflicts and contradictions as a creative resource - e.g. ‘Cities on the Edge’ project, Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 Projects on the Third Reich legacy, Linz European Capital of Culture 2009 Proposal for Mafia Museum, Salemi, Sicily Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres Learning from the processes of cultural production, which tend to be

28. Understanding urban mindscapes and imaginaries One gestalt of the urban imaginary? The politics of symbolic contestation The production of official urban mindscapes Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

29. The transformative power of outdoor cultural activities H. Lefebvre’s notion of la f ête Are festivals “festive”? The danger of “instrumentalisation” The widening of people’s mental and spatial horizons Festivals as public debate for a Researching the role of outdoor arts in developing or strengthening new creative milieux and urban visions Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

30. Can implementation problems be overcome? Training needs Institutional arrangements for effective partnerships Emerging professional specializations: the ‘cultural cartographer’, the intercultural mediator and the cultural planner The fragility of existing cultural planning experiments The need for urban cultural foreign pollicies Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

31. Can implementation problems be overcome? The continuing problem of the relatively low political s tatus of culture The limitations of evidence-based advocacy The need for political mobilisation: the real ‘Big Society’ Culture as a ‘soft option’ for public expenditure cuts Towards new forms of elected urban cultural l eadership? Towards new European NGOs to campaign for investment in urban culture? Rethinking Policy & Planning approaches to creative spaces in urban & rural centres

32. Franco Bianchini Professor of Cultural Policy and Planning Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology Leeds Metropolitan University UK E-mail [email_address] or [email_address]