What exactly does Mayor Sadiq Khan have planned for London’s art and design communities?

It’s Sadiq Khan’s first day as London Mayor today, and so begins his work to fulfil all the promises outlined in his campaign. Amid a lengthy manifesto is a pledge to support the arts and provisions for small creative businesses, as part of a series of new initiatives he plans to implement that appear to empathise with London’s art and design community.

One major endeavour is the promise to produce a Cultural Infrastructure Plan for 2030, which he says will identify what London needs in order to sustain the city’s future as a cultural capital.

He also plans to establish an annual London Borough of Culture, a programme similar to the European City of Culture, so every year a different borough is the focus for arts and cultural events.

As part of his broad approach to London property in relation to the creative sector, Sadiq aims to set up Creative Enterprise Zones, providing dedicated small workspace with live-in space to support creative industries. He also intends to strengthen planning protections for small industrial and creative workspaces to prevent the loss of business space, working with local authorities to stop “the excessive conversion of commercial space”, and promote the provision of small business and start-up premises.

He also plans to work with boroughs to promote and protect London’s libraries, community centres, and suburban arts venues.

He says that the city is in competition with the likes of New York, Paris, LA and Tokyo in the battle for creative talent, and cannot afford to price Londoners out of the city.

“The rising cost of living and surging property prices have led to the loss of artist studios and small business start-up space while our city’s creative workforce is being driven out, often to cheaper cities across Britain and Europe,” he says in the manifesto. “I want London to continue being the world’s artistic and cultural capital, so I’ll make sure the city’s fashion, design and creative sectors are given the support they need.”

Also, his Skills for Londoners programme includes a focus on building young people’s digital skills particularly among girls, aiming to turn around the under-representation of women in tech jobs.