Every city on Earth is on an urgent mission to transform itself into a better, more sustainable place to live and work. Culture is a vital part of this new emerging blueprint, and it must be rethought as a central driving force for change.

For cities to successfully tackle the pressing issues they face this century – climate change, social cohesion, migration, rapid technological change, poverty – we believe they need to develop and mobilise this underestimated power of culture and creativity.

By putting culture at the heart of a city’s development, the conversation around sustainability can be reframed - creating a future where well-being, the environment, and economic growth go hand in hand. But to do so, the creative industries must be given the same seriousness and attention as other sectors.

Cultural Capability

Using our 25 years of experience in the creative economy, statistics, cultural mapping, and policy, we have identified three particularly important dimensions that make up what we call a city’s Cultural Capability. This capability is made up of a city’s cultural and creative Assets, Attractiveness, and Innovation. Once harnessed, this potential can yield impactful results in human development, climate and environment, quality of life, soft power, and co-operation - ensuring dynamic, vibrant, and inclusive growth.

Over the next three years, we are measuring these dimensions in 500 cities, setting a standard for measuring culture and creativity across the world. Over this period, we will capture:

• How cities ensure culture is available to their citizens (Assets).

• How culture contributes to a city's image and visitor economy (Attractiveness).

• A city's potential for creative growth (Innovation).

These will be released each year as part of our BOP500 Index, helping cities to understand the relationship between their assets, the communities they serve, the income they generate, and their capacity for innovation. 

Ultimately, this capability represents far more than the sum of a city's cultural infrastructure and assets. It is also a practical roadmap for cities to unlock latent potential by helping them to register their current cultural assets, identify gaps and opportunities, position their city in relation to peers and competitors, and galvanise stakeholders.

Interested in building BOP500 data into a project? Get in touch below.

Learn more about BOP500 here.