AEA Consulting’s 2022 Cultural Infrastructure Index

Across the globe, the transformative powers of cultural districts have been widely noted, particularly with respect to how they add value to the lives of individuals and to society as a whole. Yet the ways in which cultural districts deliver and evaluate their social impact have yet to be fully explored. Importantly, there is a stark absence of rigorous methodologies and assessment frameworks to assist cultural districts in articulating, planning, delivering, and evaluating their social value proposition. Based on findings from a follow-up study to our 2019 report on Social Impact, untimely terminated due to Covid-19, this publication highlights there is much to be learned about the social impact of cultural districts.

Cities have become the focal point for creation, innovation and exchange. In the new urban age, where all cities compete against each other to attract and retain residents, visitors, investment, talent, events, creative people, organizations, etc., culture, creativity and the arts are increasingly a central point of differentiation and attraction. They help to transform and to shape people’s own identities, both for residents and visitors.