Which city is best for culture? New research crunches the numbers
Mark Brown, The Guardian
Study finds that Paris has most cinemas, London most museums, Tokyo most bookshops and New York most theatres
Paris has three times the number of cinemas as London, twice as many public libraries, far more bookshops, theatres and music venues while London has more museums, restaurants, night clubs and green spaces.
The figures emerge from the World Cities Culture Report 2012 published on Wednesday - an international survey which is the biggest of its kind examining in number crunching detail the cultural offerings of 12 cities, although the authors stress that it is not an attempt to rank them.
One of the report's central points is that world cities are as important in terms of culture as they are in finance or trade. The report says: "Culture in all its diverse forms is central to what makes a city appealing to educated people and hence to the businesses which seek to employ them."
It was commissioned by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and is being published to coincide with a cultural summit in London in which representatives of the 12 cities - London, Berlin, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo - will gather to discuss common aims.
Johnson said: "World cities are international hubs for commerce and trade, but as this groundbreaking report makes clear, they are powerhouses for culture too – in London the creative industries alone contribute £19bn to our economy and employ 386,000 people. In coming together as city leaders and policymakers we want to harness the full potential of culture, which makes our cities exciting and desirable places to live in and visit, but also makes a massive contribution to wider social and economic goals."
The report says the contribution of the arts and creative industries is fundamental to a city's health.
To read the full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/culture-cuts-blog/2012/aug/01/city-best-culture-research-numbers?newsfeed=true





