Franco Bianchini

Franco Bianchini is Professor of Cultural Policy and Director of the Institute for Research on Culture and the Creative Industries at the University of Hull, UK. From 2007-2016 he was Professor of Cultural Policy and Planning at Leeds Beckett University, UK.
From 2010-2014 he was a member of the team preparing the successful bid by the city of Matera, in Southern Italy, for the title of European Capital of Culture for 2019.

His research interests range from the role of culture in urban regeneration (with a particular focus on port cities and on European Cities/Capitals of Culture), to cultural diversity and interculturalism as resources for innovation in urban policy, and the development of urban cultural strategies in the context of the current political, economic and environmental crises.

His books

Focus on Festivals (co-edited with C. Newbold, C. Maughan and J. Jordan, Goodfellow, 2015)

Urban Mindscapes of Europe (co-edited by G. WeissSussex with F. Bianchini, Rodopi, 2006)

Planning for the Intercultural City (with J. Bloomfield, Comedia, 2004)

Culture and Neighbourhoods: A Comparative Report (with L. Ghilardi Santacatterina, Council of Europe, 1997)

The Creative City (with Charles Landry, Demos, 1995)

Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: the West European Experience (co-editor, with Michael Parkinson, Manchester University Press, 1993).