According to Policy Exchange (formerly the Tories' favourite thinktank), it's grim up north.
Its report, Cities Unlimited, has incurred the wrath of northerners and just about everybody else. Even David Cameron has had to put a large bargepole between his party and the idea that northern towns and cities should be evacuated, so that their citizens can "improve their living standards" (read provide cheap labour) in the south.
The basic premise of the report is that many northern cities are beyond regeneration. Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle get off lightly; according to the report, they have some strengths. But there is apparently no hope for Sunderland, Bradford, Hull, Liverpool and many places like them.
But while the report is long on rhetoric and provocative statements, it is short on mentions of culture. Which is surprising, since cultural regeneration has long been vaunted as the saviour of declining industrial towns.
So if the pit closes, open a mining museum. If you are stuck with a cavernous empty factory space, turn it into an art gallery. And if the hoodies are running amok in the town centre, why not rebrand it a "cultural quarter"?
Obviously, it is not as simple as that. Some honest evaluation of the economic impact of cultural regeneration would be helpful. But turning around the fortunes of struggling towns and cities is not the only reason for having cultural venues north of Watford.
Museums and galleries in particular can help us understand how our towns and cities developed and what they were built on; and they can engender pride and a sense of place.
According to the report, the Baltic was "designed to make Newcastle and Gateshead vibrant places, attractive to those with high disposable incomes".
This view excludes the idea that you might want to make a place more attractive for existing residents, or that poor people who live outside the M25 might be able to appreciate art. It also shows the true colours of the report's authors.
Sharon Heal, editor
Its report, Cities Unlimited, has incurred the wrath of northerners and just about everybody else. Even David Cameron has had to put a large bargepole between his party and the idea that northern towns and cities should be evacuated, so that their citizens can "improve their living standards" (read provide cheap labour) in the south.
The basic premise of the report is that many northern cities are beyond regeneration. Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle get off lightly; according to the report, they have some strengths. But there is apparently no hope for Sunderland, Bradford, Hull, Liverpool and many places like them.
But while the report is long on rhetoric and provocative statements, it is short on mentions of culture. Which is surprising, since cultural regeneration has long been vaunted as the saviour of declining industrial towns.
So if the pit closes, open a mining museum. If you are stuck with a cavernous empty factory space, turn it into an art gallery. And if the hoodies are running amok in the town centre, why not rebrand it a "cultural quarter"?
Obviously, it is not as simple as that. Some honest evaluation of the economic impact of cultural regeneration would be helpful. But turning around the fortunes of struggling towns and cities is not the only reason for having cultural venues north of Watford.
Museums and galleries in particular can help us understand how our towns and cities developed and what they were built on; and they can engender pride and a sense of place.
According to the report, the Baltic was "designed to make Newcastle and Gateshead vibrant places, attractive to those with high disposable incomes".
This view excludes the idea that you might want to make a place more attractive for existing residents, or that poor people who live outside the M25 might be able to appreciate art. It also shows the true colours of the report's authors.
Sharon Heal, editor
