A great deal is said about culture in Bradford in the sense of its ethnic make-up but despite the city's high-profile and high-quality Capital of Culture bid far less seems to be said about culture in the narrower sense of the arts and leisure industries.
So the report to go before the Council's regeneration and economy committee next week is extremely important in highlighting the enormous part artistic culture plays in the life of a city like Bradford.
The fact that it has been calculated that tourism, sport, heritage and the arts generate £616 million a year for the district's economy and employ 22,500 is in itself extremely important justification for giving Bradford's cultural life a higher profile.
But it's also a fact that you can't have economic regeneration without cultural regeneration. A vastly-improved living environment in the city centre with thousands of apartments planned over the next few years is absolutely the right way ahead. But what are the people living in the flats to do once they have moved in?
The £300 million Broadway development is a major part of the picture, but Bradford also needs far more leisure attractions, from sports facilities all the way through to major performing-arts venues, with many smaller niche interests catered for in between.
A great deal of work has already been going on behind the scenes to ensure that cultural regeneration keeps pace with economic regeneration. It is time it was brought to the fore in a way that recognises the vast importance of an arts and leisure culture to the future of the city and district.
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