Mapping the spatial distribution of public funding for arts, culture and heritage in South Africa: Mzansi’s Golden Economy and the Cultural and Creative Industries

Abstract

Although cultural mapping studies are growing in popularity, the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to analyse spatial data from multiple sources is relatively rare in cultural research. GIS maps have great potential
as policy analysis tools because they can show relationships between variables in a visual way that can help to identify creative hotspots and comment on funding equity. This paper demonstrates how this can be done using data from the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) funding programme between 2015 a 2017. Findings show that, as expected, creative industries tend to cluster around larger cities, as does the allocation of public funding. However, some funding categories, such as the Provincial and National Flagships category, are much more geographically dispersed, and sometimes occur in areas where there is little other cultural activity, thus contributing to equitable cultural funding in South Africa. The data also shows that the CCIs and MGE funding allocations occur more frequently in areas with better socioeconomic status (measured by the percentage of households with income above the poverty line). Within metropolitan areas, CCIs and MGE funding is seen to cluster, especially around designated cultural quarters.