Why cultural precinct plans never work

Policy makers love arts precincts but street culture can't be planned from the top down.
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City Road, in Melbourne’s Southbank. Image: Arts Victoria. 

Arts precincts have been all the rage recently.

In Sydney, the Walsh Bay Precinct Master Plan was released in mid-January. It envisages a redevelopment of the drafty Pier 2/3 space on the water and a ‘vibrant’ new public space for outdoor events between Pier 2/3 and 4/5. The planning types have gone to town with their buzzwords, as the following paragraph shows:

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Ben Eltham
About the Author
Ben Eltham is ArtsHub's industry columnist.