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This literature review was commissioned to support the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (NSROC) in obtaining a better understanding of the role of social and cultural infrastructure in enhancing regional liveability. The review of research and policy initiatives is across 15 Australian and 6 international reports which discuss the value of social and cultural infrastructure, and its relationship with liveability. From this review, it was clear that not only is there no single, definitive understanding of social and cultural infrastructure, but social infrastructure often embraces cultural infrastructure in conceptual terms. For this reason, the report proposes that the synthetic notions of culturally-focused social infrastructure and/or socially-focused cultural infrastructure are used in the interests of flexibility and feasibility.

The "Cultural Infrastructure and Investment Strategy 2021-2040" was Commissioned by the City of Parramatta. The Strategy is designed to: *Identify priorities for future cultural infrastructure that will consolidate Parramatta as a desirable destination to live, work and play; *Assist with a strategic and coordinated approach within Council to advance the delivery of cultural infrastructure within the City; *Direct sound decision making about planning, funding, delivering and negotiating for cultural infrastructure over the next 20 years; *Capitalise on the growth and development underway in the City of Parramatta, and to advocate more effectively during planning proposal negotiations for cultural facilities aligned with community needs; and *Investigate selected precincts and industrial lands across the City for their potential to support cultural infrastructure, and to review planning regulations and building controls with a view to removing existing barriers to cultural uses. The Strategy explores a range of funding options and priorities for investment in cultural infrastructure. It centres on Parramatta CBD and North Parramatta and several ‘precincts of Parramatta’ which include: Westmead; Sydney Olympic Park; Camellia; Harris Park; Epping; Rydalmere; North Rocks and Silverwater.

This project was commissioned by Penrith City Council and conducted by a research team from Western Sydney University’s Institute for Culture and Society (ICS). Penrith City Council and Blue Mountains City Council in collaboration with Blue Mountains Economic Enterprise contributed resources for the project. Regional leadership in arts and cultural production is evident in Penrith and the Blue Mountains through the different yet complementary approaches of the City Councils. A strategic alliance between Penrith and the Blue Mountains City Councils is required to formalise the complementarity of creative production and presentation across the two LGAs. The raison d’etre of building cultural infrastructure and creative educational programs in decades past across the region is still relevant today - if not even more so. This report details what the next cycle of cultural development investment should be. The benefits of which will be enhanced by regional collaboration to capture the value of the cultural and creative sectors in the coming decades.

This Phase 2 Research Report of the City of Parramatta "Cultural Infrastructure and Investment Strategy 2039" articulates the opportunities and needs for arts and cultural infrastructure beyond the immediate CBD and North Parramatta. Its decision making principles are the same as those for Phase 1, being based on the need to address the City’s expressed desire to embrace all types of cultural activity and space within its classification framework, and to encompass all the creative value chain dimensions according to its internationally-informed model of the cultural cycle (see elaboration of the framework and model below). The rationale for its priority framework is consistent with Phase 1’s aim of turning Parramatta into “a dynamic regional cultural hub, successfully catering and sensitive to the diverse cultural needs and interests of residents, workers, visitors and people from the Greater Western Sydney region” (p. 14). It is founded on the requirement to realise this aim imaginatively, equitably and sustainably, capitalising on Parramatta LGA’s growth while securing its future as a major urban centre that attracts and retains a substantial creative workforce making a significant contribution to the local cultural economy.