Global Cultural Districts Network

The Global Cultural Districts Network (GCDN) is a federation of global centers of arts and culture.

The GCDN was founded in 2013 by Adrian Ellis and established by AEA Consulting, the New Cities Foundation, and the Dallas Arts District. Members represent cities, cultural districts, and cultural institutions from around the world, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, China, and Singapore.^[14]

The creation of the GCDN was sparked by a series of conversations with cultural leaders who were aware that whilst there existed forums in which people responsible for specific kinds of cultural institutions (museums or performing arts centers) could meet and discuss common issues, there was no such forum for those responsible for cultural districts, even though there is a great deal of new activity in this sector. (Some $US250 bn. is being invested in cultural infrastructure in districts over the next fifteen years.)^[1] Income increase 80% 2016

Members

GCDN's current members include:

• Adelaide Festival Centre – Adelaide, Australia
• Alserkal Avenue – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Auckland Live – Auckland, New Zealand
• Barangaroo Delivery Authority – Sydney Australia
• Better Bankside – London, UK
• Brooklyn Cultural District (Brooklyn Academy of Music/Downtown Brooklyn Partnership/Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance) – New York City, USA
• Canberra Theatre Centre – Canberra, Australia
• City of Providence Art, Culture + Tourism Dept. – Providence, USA
• City of Sydney – Sydney, Australia
• Culture Mile (Barbican Centre/Museum of London/City of London Corporation) – London, UK
• Dallas Arts District – Dallas, USA
• East Bank at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – London, UK
• Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) – London, UK
• Genesis Holdings – Beijing, China
• Grand Center Arts District – St. Louis, USA
• Harbourfront Centre – Toronto, Canada
• International Festival of Arts & Ideas – New Haven, USA
• Kingston Creative – [Kingston, Jamaica]
• LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura – Lugano, Switzerland
• Melbourne Arts Precinct (Arts Centre Melbourne/Melbourne Recital Centre) – Melbourne, Australia
• MuseumsQuartier Wien – Vienna, Austria
• National Museum of Singapore and Bras Basah.Bugis – Singapore, Singapore
• Navy Pier, Inc. – Chicago, USA
• New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy – Miami Beach, USA
• Onassis Foundation – Athens, Greece
• Paris La Défense – Paris, France
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust – Pittsburgh, USA
• RAB/BKO – Brussels, Belgium
• The Temple Bar Company – Dublin, Ireland
• Quartier des Spectacles Partnership – Montreal
• The Kuwait National Cultural District - Kuwait City, Kuwait
• The Lowry/Salford Quays – Salford, UK
• The Music Center – Los Angeles, USA
• The Sharjah Museums Authority – Sharjah^[2], UAE
• The Toledo Museum of Art – Toledo OH, USA
• The William Penn Foundation – Philadelphia, USA
• The Houston Theater District – Houston, USA
• Times Square Alliance – New York, USA
• West Kowloon Cultural District Authority – Hong Kong, China

Meetings

Members of the Network meet twice a year to discuss a range of issues: governance; content and programming alliances; the animation of public spaces; the role of large scale cultural anchor institutions in districts; technology; development and training needs; effective methodologies for cultural planning; and more.

Past GCDN meetings include:

• GCDN Members Convening, Brooklyn, New York – 2016.
• GCDN Members Convening, London, UK – 2015.
• New Cities Summit, Jakarta, Indonesia – 2015.^[4]
• GCDN Members Convening, Montreal, Canada – 2015.^[5][6][7][8]
• New Cities Summit, Dallas, Texas – 2014.^{[9][10][11][12]}

References

External links

• Official site