The Living City is a They Eat Culture project exploring the present and future of our cities through a creative lens.

We are particularly interested in what makes our lives and cities sustainable as well as shining a light on societal inequalities and how we can highlight and address them. 

We believe that everyone should have access to art and that through engaging and collaborating with communities we can create meaningful projects that everyone can access. 

The name ‘The Living City’ comes from the idea that for a city to thrive it needs to live – life being possible only through sustainable approaches to the environment, our mental health, housing and community. We believe there can be a harmony in our future where life is more equal and we have a positive symbiotic relationship with our world. 

In Phase 1 of The Living City we created an archive of voices from lockdown. We listened to the voices of Preston people, asking them what they think makes a place great to live, work and play in. To find out what they value, fear and hope for. We then commissioned artists to respond to the archive through their creative practices. We took our planned festival online in April, sharing dance, spoken word, live music, meditation and yoga with our community and provided free wellbeing classes from April to August.

What Next?

As we enter 2022 we enter a new phase of The Living City. 

We are working on projects which address mental health, diversity and sustainability in new ways.

We are working with talented artists, film makers and communities so we can view our Living Cities through different and diverse perspectives. We want to challenge ourselves and our audiences to question their views and inspire people to make a better and more equal world.