ABSTRACT
The story of cultural policy in Leeds is one of gradual accretion with occasional surges. However, with the exception of a possible arena, there seem to be no new facilities on the horizon that were not planned several years ago. Leeds stands accused of being complacent in cultural terms, happy to roll with whatever is generated or attracted by the city's economic success and not being prepared to back its aspirations with financial investment. What most did agree on was that Leeds has not capitalised on its cultural offer in marketing terms in the same way as other cities have managed to do; surely a cardinal sin in postmodern times. Respondents though still indicated a strong belief that cultural policies can deliver improvements to people's lives, but: there has been a bit of over-claiming in cultural policy. Cultural policy is rarely seen in terms of promoting the intrinsic benefits of cultural forms.
