Cultural Policies in New Towns

The aim of this thesis is to gain insight in the development and impact of cultural policies in New Towns as Almere (NL) and Milton Keynes (UK). New Towns are a subcategory in the creative city discourse that is hardly researched. The core research question that is being asked is the following: What is the impact of cultural policy in New Towns? The theoretical framework of creative cities is the starting point of this research. Creative city research has mainly focussed on large cities and metropolises and the theories generated from these studies do not apply to or work differently in New Towns. The framework of small creative cities, which is a quite new field of research, is added to the framework. Characteristics of small cities, such as a close interaction with inhabitants, strong influence of local politics and an insufficient vocabulary, can also be found in New Towns. Research into the evaluation of the impact of cultural policies is also added to the framework. The evaluation of cultural policies focuses on several types of goals, namely social, economic and cultural goals. However, no standard method has yet been developed to evaluate the impact of cultural policies. To answer this question a cross-national comparative case study research has been conducted for the years 2008 and 2011. Four macro indicators were developed to measure the impact of the cultural policies: (1) concentration and distribution of cultural organisations, (2) impact of the budget, (3) audience development, and (4) the impact of the policy. Data was generated through the policy documents, local cultural budgets, local and national statistics, and interviews with local cultural officers. Although the policy documents are very ambitious, when you measure quantitatively what the result are of these policies there is a difference between ambition and results. Both cities are working very hard on the cultural infrastructure and supporting the development of cultural products to be presented in this infrastructure. However, as one would expect in a New Town where there is no long history to build a cultural identity and a shared feeling of identity on, hardly any money is spend on projects that support these social goals. Making cultural policies in New Towns is about painting on a blank canvas and as a cultural officer being very hands.