© Rosie Lonsdale Embedding arts and culture into the design, development and DNA of our communities is fundamental to the Thames Estuary’s future. That is why we are embarking on an ambitious project to establish best practice in ensuring art and culture play a key role in civic planning and placemaking.
Cultural co-location involves finding holistic ways to integrate cultural infrastructure into community buildings and outdoor spaces, facilitating more places for creative activity, from flexible artist studios to larger scale performance and exhibition spaces.
Our co-location initiative research and innovation will allow us to create a new strategy for embedding culture into new communities, developing best practice models with national relevance and a project legacy.
Two areas in the Thames Estuary region are piloting cultural co-location, Ebbsfleet Garden City and a major regeneration scheme, Purfleet-on-Thames, in Essex. The work will be supported by the University of Kent’s School of Architecture and Planning, who will lead an action research project alongside the pilot schemes. This will include peer learning and support, critical analysis and a commitment to share our learning through dialogue, events and publications.
© Rosie Lonsdale 
