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An arts district or cultural district is a demarcated urban area, usually on the periphery of a city centre, intended to create a 'critical mass' of places of cultural consumption - such as art galleries, theatres, art cinemas, music venues, and public squares for performances. Such an area is usually encouraged by public policy-making and planning, but sometimes occurs spontaneously. It is associated with allied service-industry jobs like cafes, printers, fashion outlets, restaurants, and a variety of 'discreet services' (see the back-page small-ads of almost any cultural events-listings magazine).
Such artistic districts can sometimes spontaneously occur in deprived areas where housing and artistic spaces are at enhanced economic level of affordability, due to a perceived low quality of housing or location. A classic example of this is the famous Kreuzberg area in Berlin which from the 1960s became home to artists and squatters and people seeking an alternative lifestyle. Another example is the Shoreditch area in London, which had a large number of old commercial spaces which artists could use. Rather than town planners deciding that a particular area should have theatres and galleries, these spontaneous artists centres are driven by affordability of space and a concentration of mutual interests.
There may also be some artists' studios located in nearby back-streets. But, as Richard Florida has found from his research, cultural production facilities are often better sited some miles away from cultural consumption facilities - except in some very tolerant cities and in countries where a boisterous alcohol-based nightlife scene does not lead to aggressive and anti-social behaviour.
In the UK the term sometimes used is "Cultural quarter" or "Arts quarter".