In our relentless pursuit of quantifiable progress, we have become dangerously adept at measuring the price of everything and the value of nothing. The prevailing argument that cultural funding must justify itself through immediate economic returns is not merely a pragmatic concession to fiscal reality; it is a profound category error. The intrinsic value of cultural investment beyond economic returns lies not in its capacity to generate tourism revenue or fill city-center real estate, but in its foundational role in building resilient communities, fostering emotional intelligence, and cultivating a society that is not just prosperous, but meaningful.
The stakes of this debate are far from academic. Across the globe, as public purses tighten, the arts, humanities, and even community sports are often the first to face the austerity axe. They are framed as luxuries, as non-essential expenditures to be indulged in times of plenty. This transactional view of culture—as a commodity to be bought and sold, its worth determined by market forces—is an impoverished one. It overlooks the very essence of what makes a community cohere and what makes a life worth living. From Wrexham’s ambitious bid for UK City of Culture 2029, a project rooted in civic identity, to the thoughtful conversion of a historic Russian church in Istanbul into a public library, we see that culture is not a static product but a dynamic, living process. It is the medium through which we negotiate our shared existence, and to neglect it is to neglect the social fabric itself.
