'Film exhibition is changing. [New models] in Ealing are exemplars for independent cinema. Their sustainable development is vital for local cinema culture.' — Film sector interviewee

opportunities to embed culture at scale.

The evidence also reveals a landscape of challenges the cultural infrastructure plan responds to. Ealing is under-providing places for people to consume culture, providing less than half the number of cultural consumption spaces as its West London neighbours and over 4x fewer theatres, cinemas and music venues as the average London borough. Residents report having to travel outside the borough to participate and engage with culture as they would like to. New cultural infrastructure will need to provide innovative and locally-relevant solutions to these challenges.

Club Ealing Eclectic hosts diverse events showcasing music, arts, and cultural experiences.

‘We need places to connect with other artists in our neighbourhoods.’ — Levi, Northolt based illustrator

We Made That

Act One Cinema revitalises a heritage asset by bringing an experienced independent cinema operator and running curated film events.

Ealing’s audiences are diverse, ranging from low engaged and health poor seniors and youths looking to participate in low-barrier activities locally to highly active, diverse, social and ambitious regular and eclectic arts engagers. The evidence shows that these audiences are geographically distributed, a result of disparity in income, demographic, health outcomes and transport connectivity across the borough.

The cultural infrastructure plan takes both a thematic and place-based approach to translating evidence into recommendations for cultural infrastructure, ensuring all projects work to deliver against Ealing’s challenges, capitalise on opportunities and support a growing cultural sector and talent base across Ealing’s seven towns. Bringing together the thematic evidence and place-based insights, the cultural infrastructure plan is guided by a set of principles which will ensure projects speak to local priorities. The guiding principles are as follows:

Ealing Cultural Infrastructure Plan

The guiding principles are as follows:

1. Create a network of cultural venues and facilities that are easy to reach, affordable and accessible for local people.
2. Encourage bottom up, grass-roots cultural activities that address hyper-local needs.
3. Adapt industrial, empty or under-used spaces and buildings for cultural uses, including artists' studios, pop-up shops, exhibition venues and cultural event locations.
4. Utilise the existing and developing transportation network to connect Ealing with West London and beyond and attract visitors to Ealing for culture.
5. Embrace digital transformation to reduce barriers to access and build a more inclusive and innovative cultural sector.