ABSTRACT
As the ‘unplanned’ but responsive arts centre experience suggests, the notion of developing and promoting measurable standards for arts amenities, either within the statutory planning process or as part of wider cultural policies, has not gained wide acceptance by either planning or arts policy practitioners. However, some attempts at population-based and/or comparative provision levels of arts facilities have in the past been proposed within the arts sector at national and more successfully at regional levels particularly in the context of distributive arts planning. The contrast between planning for sports and open spaces (e.g. parks, playing fields, promenades) and the arts also highlights the differing treatment and resourcing of these two arguably key elements of public ‘leisure’ provision. Whilst there is a clear relationship between the influence of the supply-led nature of much sport and recreation provision on participation and the impact of planning norms, this is in contrast to the less homogeneous arts (versus libraries) where difficulties in defining and accepting arts planning standards has prevented the adoption of any systematic norms of arts facility provision. In consequence there tends to be significantly more local sports facilities (e.g. swimming pools and pitches) in total and more evenly distributed than equivalent arts amenities, and higher participation rates as a result, i.e. activity is location and supply led.
