What is Cultural Development?

Cultural development is decision making that doesn’t just acknowledge, or worse advocate for culture, but embeds it in decision-making affecting our lives and communities.

Then the question is what do we mean by culture? Cultural development asks us to stop thinking about the categories of culture governments tell us to think about – arts, heritage, creative industries. Instead, it embraces the language of cultural resources or assets. This is an unapologetic understanding of culture as a resource - but a resource for social and civic as well as economic outcomes. 

Jane Jacobs famously taught us nations don't generate wealth; cities and regions is where wealth comes from. Culture is central to the quality of life and quality of place in communities. We used to think if we attracted businesses, people would follow. Instead, if we build places where people want to live and work, business and investment follow people not the other way around:

Cultural resources are central to people experiencing rich cultural lives, lives beginning with authentic urban environments that preserve natural and cultural heritage. They are vibrant communities with rich arts and entertainment assets. These include things like music, food, festivals, and language, but also less visible elements such as shared memories, values, local histories, everyday habits, who feels included, and who doesn’t (see diagram below).

Culture + Place = Wealth Creation.

When we think about is as set of diverse resources such as this, culture becomes a strategic tool: a well-designed public space, a transit system, a housing policy, or even an economic development strategy can all be more successful if they align with how people live, identify, and connect.

Cultural development is relevant everywhere. In small rural towns, it might mean preserving local traditions while creating new economic opportunities. While in large global cities, it might involve managing evolving diversity and plurality of identity, supporting creative industries, or ensuring that rapid development doesn’t erase the identities that made the city vibrant in the first place.

Cultural development also asks us to bring social justice issues forward such as acknowledging the deep ethno-cultural and racial identities of Canadians. Our cultural and media infrastructure in Canada doesn’t adequately reflect the racial diversity of this rich country.

For more information and expanded definitions we recommend exploring Colin Mercer’s Cultural Planning Handbook (1995) and Greg Baeker’s Rediscovering the Wealth of Places (2010).