- The Mayor of London will join with Mayors from Buenos Aires, Stockholm and Warsaw at the World Cities Culture Forum to discuss the vital role culture can play in social and economic recovery
- Coronavirus has had a devastating impact on culture – Mayors will share the work they are doing to help the industry survive
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on the 29th October, lead a panel of Mayors from cities across the world to emphasise the important role culture can play in our social and economic recovery from Covid-19.
Sadiq will be joined at the World Cities Culture Forum by Mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of Stockholm Anna König Jerlmyr, and Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, as they share the work they have been doing to support their culture sectors with city leaders around the world. Mayors from a number of other cities, including Zurich, Barcelona, Lisbon, Seoul and Brussels, will also provide recorded messages outlining the importance of culture.
Globally, the cultural sector is a $2 trillion industry employing 30 million people, but the impact of Covid-19 has been devastating. In London alone, the impact on the culture and creative industries is predicted to cost the economy £16.5bn and 152,500 jobs by the end of the year, without Government support.* A recent survey of World Cities Culture Forum members showed that 84% of cities are concerned about the loss of cultural tourists, 77% fear the permanent closure of venues, and 69% believe freelance artists and creative professionals will leave the sector or their city.**
The World Cities Culture Forum will be an opportunity to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the culture sector, how cities have responded to it and work together to support recovery.
The Forum is a network of 40 major creative cities sharing ideas, data and policy to support culture. On the 29th October, it announced the expansion of its Leadership Exchange Programme, funded by Bloomberg and Google Arts & Culture. Eighteen cities have been awarded grants to work closely together and tackle the top challenges facing culture in cities. The scheme previously brought together leaders of nine cities, including Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires who developed the ‘Barrios Creativos’ (creative neighbourhoods) programme, after being inspired by the success of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture programme.
Before the impact of the coronavirus, London’s culture and creative industries generated £58.4bn and provided one in six jobs in the capital, so it will be integral to economic recovery. The Mayor is doing everything he can to support these industries. He launched a £2.3m Culture at Risk Business Support Fund to help venues and artists, provided help and advice through the Culture at Risk Office and the London Growth Hub, is helping more than 300 small businesses raise over £750,000 by assisting them to sell goods and services in advance through Pay It Forward London, and is lobbying Government for a long term support package for the culture sector.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London said: “Culture is in London’s DNA, it is the reason so many people choose to live and work in our city, and is a driving force behind our economy. The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for the global culture industry, but with the right support it will play a key role in helping us to rebuild. By joining together with other cities across the world, we can learn from each other and stand together in support of this vital industry.”
Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw said: “The response to crises requires a deep reflection on the values that guide us in social and public life. Through culture, we can test new ideas and develop competences that are likely to be necessary in the near future. In these difficult times we need culture to make the image of the world coherent, to integrate society and to explain reality. And it is cities that bear a special responsibility. This forum is the best moment to share learning and challenges to imagine a better future.”
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires, said: “Culture is a pillar of sustainable development. In this period of extraordinary isolation, we have confirmed the fundamental role of culture in contributing to the well-being of all people and in creating a bridge that unites us even at a distance. We are convinced that it is an engine of human and social development and that it creates new places from which to draw the necessary energy to face together the intense challenges we face every day ”.
Anna König Jerlmyr, Mayor of Stockholm, said : “Culture has been affected hard by the pandemic and we as cities must work together to support our creative workforces during a hard time while also strengthen their presence in a future city post-covid19. We must amplify and strategically develop our work to support these business and creative forces. We must also learn from this crisis so that our cities and our many cultural sectors are future proofed. Culture is so central for a society to recover faster from this pandemic, and will continue to be a key factor when it comes to a lively, and strong, democratic conversation. I think that this forum is so important to showcase how we as global cities can work locally to reinforce this conversation, and make it so that more voices can be part of it.“