With our town and city centres coming under increasing pressures to adapt amid calls for action on the high street, investment in existing and new cultural assets can only help encourage and sustain footfall, generate investment and contribute to the placemaking agenda.

Local authorities and the private sector each have a role to play, in adding culture in to the mix.

The Quaich Project, the group behind the planned outdoor concert arena for Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens, affectionately known as the "hobbit house", is a partnership between the Ross Development Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council, which operates and maintains the gardens. A design competition prompted by the Council engagement captured the private sector's imagination.

Innovative and exciting projects, which may sometimes prompt debate, focus our thoughts on what our town and city centres can look like, and how different uses can contribute to their vitality and viability in a changing commercial landscape.