World Cities Culture Report 2022

The World Cities Culture Forum is a network of over 40 city partners (Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Austin, Barcelona, Brasília, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Chengdu, Dubai, Dublin, Edinburgh, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lagos, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Milan, Montréal, Nanjing, New York, Oslo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Stockholm, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw, Zürich). This report highlights over 450 examples of actions taken around the world in the culture sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

If many world cities like Paris were impacted by the pandemic crisis, the culture sector was disproportionately hit harder by the restrictions, lockdowns and health crises.

Between March 2020 and November 2021, the data collected all over the world revealed that 

To the participation in culture

• 94% Average fall in attendance at the main carnival / festival
• 72% Average fall in international tourism
• 64% Average fall in cinema admissions
• 61% Average fall in theatre admissions
• 50% Average fall in film festival admissions
• 48% Average fall in visits to the top 5 most visited museums and galleries

To the cultural output

• 51% Average fall in music performances per year
• 50% Average fall in theatrical performances at all theatres
• 41% Average fall in films given a theatrical release (in the country as a proxy for the city)

To cultural venues

• 8% Average fall in number of theatres
• 3.5% Average fall in number of live music venues
• 3% Average increase in cinemas

While the culture sector in Paris Île-de-France faced enormous disruption, the pandemic was also an opportunity for local governments to take a re-assessment of their mission-based approach for the cultural sector. In Paris Île-de-France in response to the Covid-19 crisis, eg

• €10 million Live Performance Emergency Fund
• circular economy programme for cultural establishments.
• ‘L’Art pour grandir’ that brings culture to toddlers in nurseries as a way to develop curiosity and access to culture.