In this episode of Challenger Cities, we chat with Paul Owens, co-founder of BOP Consulting, long-time collaborator of Charles Landry, and one of the most quietly influential thinkers on culture and cities anywhere in the world.

Paul has spent decades helping cities understand something most of them overlook: culture isn’t a sector or an industry, it’s an operating system of a place. It’s who you are, where you come from, and how you imagine yourself collectively as a city.

We talk about:

• Culture as a public good, drawing on Robert Hewison’s definition and why it still cuts through the noise.
• Why assets don’t matter nearly as much as institutional capacity — the ability of a city to reflect on itself and act with confidence.
• London 2012 and how the  ...