About living places

Name: living places Annual Plan
Kind: PDF
Size: 1.5 MB

living places is a programme based on the agreement between 5 of the leading cultural agencies: Arts Council England, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), English Heritage, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and Sport England; their sponsoring department the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This is the first time the five cultural agencies, DCLG and DCMS have come together formally to work together on supporting the role of culture in communities.

The aim of living places is to ensure that all communities, particularly those experiencing housing-led growth and regeneration, can benefit from cultural and sporting opportunities. By working together, the partners will ensure that culture is embedded in the development of our villages, towns and cities alongside other key areas of provision such as healthcare and transport.

Cultural assets and opportunities have a greater part to play in the business of creating new places. With greater strategic focus, collective ambition and creative leadership we can reach more people and more places, creating a step change for integration and quality of culture in achieving sustainable communities.

Our vision for culture & sport within communities

We refer to ‘culture & sport’ as the collective term for a range of activities, resources, facilities and expertise that include arts, sport, heritage, museums, libraries and archives, the built environment – and the creative industries, including film and media. The culture of a place is the product of people’s sense of pride, identity and connectedness and cultural activity provides a route for harnessing and developing this local distinctiveness.

Strong communities require: identity – self knowledge and a sense of shared purpose; and agency – the ability to act. Our vision is of a country where all communities have the capacity to be culturally vibrant and reflect their distinctive identities. Diverse and tolerant places are essential to a strong community. Every community, including the most disadvantaged, should expect to have access to cultural activities, opportunities for learning and self-expression, attractive and safe open spaces and a well-designed built environment that respects and enhances local character.

This vision is crucial to realising the government’s aim of building sustainable communities. By supporting its implementation we will help create a fairer, more prosperous and happier Britain where both new and revitalised communities will stand the test of time.