Creative Infrastructure

Creativity, Culture and Communities

The work of Carter Jonas’ Planning & Development team largely concerns physical infrastructure: from land promotion to masterplanning and the delivery of homes, our work results in physical changes to the benefit of communities. 

At a lunchtime webinar by culture and architecture practice Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, we were given an insight into the role that planning and development can have in community-building through culture and creativity.

Planning and Development Insite spoke to the presenters, Juliet Quintero and Susie Gray of D-P-Q. 

D-P-Q’s work focuses on holistic place-shaping, helping to enrich community life by creating cultural and public realm strategies for places undergoing change. While commissioning public art to enliven public spaces is an important facet of D-P-Q’s work, their focus is more expansive, partly because strategies frequently conclude that effective community development can be achieved, in addition to public art, through engagement, public spaces, creative facilities, festivals and other cultural activities. 

Public Art and Culture

Covid, inevitably, has created greater need in many struggling neighbourhoods and high streets. But it has also highlighted opportunities, such as the potential for communities to connect and provide support, the importance of health and wellbeing and the restorative power of nature.

Strategies for community development bring together each of these and more. ‘It’s important to focus on local capacity and support home-grown cultural and community partners,’ explains Juliet. 

‘Over the last few decades, public art and the wider remit of culture has become increasingly community-led: our work is about building on local cultural life and putting in place structures which will ultimately be self-sufficient, even expanding over time as communities become increasingly empowered and inspired’. 

Susie describes the breadth of D-P-Q’s projects: ‘In Camden we’re linking a range of community benefits - a youth space, a rooftop growing initiative and public art projects - within a town centre scheme to maximise the social value offered. In Bournemouth and Poole, our place-shaping projects have brought together education, heritage and digital through a series of creative wayfinding interventions focussed on local identity. Working with an artist in Haringey, we commissioned a public art trail that highlighted biodiversity and local natural resources. And in Enfield, we have led a project around ‘meanwhile’ spaces for DWS, working with the council’s cultural team and local creatives when their arts centre was temporarily requisitioned as a vaccine hub – and in doing so, attracted footfall and new tenants to a shopping centre which had suffered as a result of the pandemic.’

Benefits and Bespoke Strategies

The wide-ranging projects D-P-Q is delivering have a common purpose: supporting communities and wellbeing at times of change. And the benefits are multiple. 

Susie explains: ‘For communities, the benefits can be anything from bringing people out of their homes, encouraging social interaction and connecting residents with their local heritage or environment; to a cultural project with creative professionals which might influence a young person’s career path.’

The benefits to the developer are considerable too, explains Juliet: ‘The prime benefit is engaging with and supporting a community whose environment and life is being altered as a result of the development; working together on positive projects which will have long-term repercussions for residents both existing and new.’

Where engagement with local residents on the future of their community can take place in a supportive and positive environment, and where community involvement can have tangible results, cultural projects can help to support relationships between all parties. 

Juliet offers insight as to how this can be achieved: ‘It’s about making sure that you’re connecting to the place and the people and finding out what’s helpful, rather than making assumptions about what’s required. Community ecosystems can be fragile at times of change, and its vital to support them. On a practical level too, cultural provision can support public consultation. For example, we’ve commissioned creative projects which have given people a platform to discuss new amenities and infrastructure.’

Where applicable, D-P-Q’s cultural strategies include the long-term stewardship and management of cultural projects. ‘In many cases, the community can take on this role, such as through Community Management Organisations, or developing new networks - especially where development is taking place over a long time period and new communities are being created,’ explains Susie, ‘In other cases, projects we initiate on behalf of developers are intentionally short or medium-term, because the purpose is to bring the community together at a particular point in a development process. We aim to leave a positive legacy whether that is through influencing-built spaces or bringing together a local group that will continue to work together. 


‘For example in our work with Taylor Wimpey at the former Wisley Airfield, we produced a creative community strategy based around public realm, public art, community facilities, place-naming and heritage, which intends to draw together local residents through the creative arts. We have also instigated a strategic partnership with a horticulture partner, to work with the community on wildlife and growing initiatives’.

‘The success of cultural projects such as this is the result of close working with the community, understanding the people, the place and its ecosystems,’ explains Juliet. ‘Also being prepared to create networks, listen and learn.’ In this way, D-P-Q provides a vital bridge between the development team and local communities, including cultural providers. 

Working with the private sector is immensely valuable for cultural and community development, explains Susie, more so than ever: ‘The arts and cultural industries are in a tight corner, partly due to reduced Government funding. Although some geographic areas have cultural planning policy such as ‘percent for art’ or cultural obligations within planning policy, there is no statutory requirement for development funding to be allocated for public art and cultural provision, as it is for sports or green spaces which we would like to see change.’

Perhaps with the draft Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill aspiring to ‘restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging’, legislators will understand and appreciate the immense benefits that local cultural provision can bring. To do so, they need look no further than D-P-Q’s wide breadth of work.