Milton Keynes has grown rapidly since the beginning of this century. A New Town of around 260,000 people some 50 miles from London, is famous for its American-style road grid and its high-modernist shopping mall. But this place, also known as pleasant but dull, has become a lot more colorful in recent times. Competing with the chain stores of the mall, there are now markets selling African and Asian food and the city is home to a 100+ nationalities. Planned for, and with its citizens, the New Town has become the largest and most successful social experiment of urban living over the last fifty years, welcoming all who have moved there to make it their home. The city is leading on developing and using culture in building communities, which are sustainable and diverse. Its ambition is to become a European destination and the next 2023 European Capital of Culture. In the meanwhile, the City is getting equipped to master an increasingly mobile population which defines the ‘city of Comings and Goings’.

• leading role to culture and arts as key players for the City renewed identity
• proverbial forward-looking culture of New Towns, with an emphasis on innovation and experiment