Assessing the impact of London's Creative Enterprise Zones: cultural policy, 'good growth' and inclusive urbanfutures

The pursuit of creative city agendas has generatedenormous economic and cultural value and re-asserted theimportance of the arts, culture and creativity in urban life.Yet, for many cities, such transformations have also led toincreasingly unaffordable creative workspaces, precariouscreative labour regimes, and extensive neighbourhooddisplacement and division.In response, urban authorities have begun to devise policyinterventions intended to put these creative economies ona more sustainable footing. Indicative is the recentestablishment of 'Creative Enterprise Zones' (CEZs) inLondon. Initiated by the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, as a pilotscheme in 2018, the programme has rapidly expanded withthe help of £14 million in municipal funding. Each zone istasked with delivering an action plan to establishaffordable creative workspace, support borough-widecreative education and skills, and embed creativeproduction in diverse local communities.This project will develop an in-depth assessment of thevision, delivery and impacts of the CEZ programme. Its aimis to address timely questions about how notions of 'goodgrowth' might be pursued through such new forms of urbancultural policy. Working with city-level data, andethnographically with selected case studies, it willestablish a grounded picture of stakeholder activities, thespatial formation of the zones, and the extent of localcommunity involvement.