Introduction

The places where collective and public cultural activity occurs have an important and lasting influence-aesthetic, social, economic and symbolic-on the form and function of towns and cities. At their most integrated, the arts have played a central role in the life of different societies and in models of urban design, from various classical, renaissance, industrial and post-industrial eras the world over. Where this coincided with affluence, technological and social change, the cultural economy of cities has also supported arts and crafts production, innovation and a thriving cultural industry, which has in turn created powerful comparative advantage and helped create and reinforce a sense of identity.