Whether it’s the increasing number of practical examples of success in your own and other communities, or the academic research of Dr. Richard Florida (The Rise of the Creative Class), the evidence is in: it pays for a municipality to make a proactive role in arts and cultural development a key part of its core “business.”

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More than ever before place and community are critical components in making a city a desirable environment in which to live and work. From the perspective of attracting business and professional services, including everything from high-tech firms to health care workers, the character or quality of a place is one of a city’s most saleable features.

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A diverse, cohesive community is one where each citizen’s traditions, customs, and ideas are shared with the collective, and sometimes re-invented together. In the resulting mosaic, the different cultures and generations making up the community are respected, leading to social cohesion and to an important sense of individual identity and comfort.

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Traditionally, sustainability has largely been defined at the global and national level, but more recently it has been applied to cities and communities too. This shift in focus is reinforced, in part, through the adoption of sustainability frameworks and concerns by the community development field. Parallel to this “local turn” is a greater appreciation for culture as a significant component of sustainability.

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The construction of cultural facilities has been intertwined with the development of Canada itself, and many communities have heritage theatres, concert halls, opera houses, and museums that stand today as testament to this history. In 1967, fueled by national ferment and nation-building enthusiasm, Canada’s Centennial year gave impetus to the creation of a new string of cultural and community centres, theatres, and museums across the country.

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Rural regions—in Canada and around the world—are facing a time of transition. As rural communities re-envision and reposition themselves, they seek to diversify their economic base and enhance quality of life. This has created a fresh, though often stressful, climate of reinvention in which new functions and roles are being sought, and in which arts and culture are key.

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