In the lead up to WCCF’s ‘Global Conversation: one day conference on culture, COVID and cities’, we invited Mayors, Governors and leaders from cities across the network to share a statement about why culture matters in their city.

Our cities face the unprecedented challenge of recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. Culture will play a vital role in this recovery, boosting our economy day and night and inspiring, entertaining and bringing people together. Throughout this crisis, we have seen how people have turned to culture to connect with one another during isolation. Culture is in the DNA of our world cities, and is uniquely positioned to support world cities as they recover from the pandemic.

But culture still needs major support to realise this potential. The latest WCCF COVID-19 Policy and Impact Bulletin highlights the impacts of COVID-19, and examines the vital role that culture can play in recovery in our cities.