Enhancing social impact measurement in Hong Kong’s cultural sector

Hong Kong, has embarked on an ambitious journey to solidify its status as a leading international cultural metropolis, a vision articulated in the 2024 Blueprint for Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Development and backed by substantial budgetary commitment.  

The city's vibrant ecosystem of mega- cultural events and institutional collaborations is already delivering significant economic benefits and enhancing its global profile.  To complement these efforts, developing a consistent, territory-wide framework for measuring the social impact of cultural investments and initiatives would further enhance strategic planning and long-term sustainability. 

The challenge: Why measurement matters 

While audience and tourism figures are systematically monitored, there remains scope to develop more robust and comparable data to assess whether cultural initiatives are fully achieving their intended social outcomes — such as strengthening community connections, reinforcing cultural identity, enhancing public wellbeing, and promoting inclusivity. 

Strengthening this evidence base would help articulate the broader public value of cultural investment, inform future strategic planning, and further highlight Hong Kong’s achievements as a culturally vibrant and globally connected city. 

Proposing a social impact measurement framework for Hong Kong cultural events   

This white paper, building on pioneering research from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), addresses this strategic gap. It proposes a practical and collaborative pathway to develop a robust social impact measurement framework for cultural initiatives, grounded in the internationally recognised "Impact value chain" model and tailored to Hong Kong’s unique context.  

Leveraging on a structured academic and practitioners literature review and grounded in the public value theory, CLASS has developed a comprehensive framework to quantify the social impact of cultural initiatives, which is organised around three core dimensions: 

• The key activities of the value chain, to identify where social value is generated; 

• The timing at which the value is generated to distinguish between the short-, medium- and long-term impacts; 

• The levels at which social value is generated, distinguishing between the value generated for individuals, the organisation and the whole city. 

Roadmap to implementation   

To operationalise this framework, we propose a partnership-oriented approach centered on four key recommendations: 

1. Co-develop and endorse core indicators: We encourage governing authorities to lead a consultative process to endorse a core set of standardised social impact indicators, providing a common language for benchmarking. 

2. Champion a phased implementation: We advocate for a pilot programme with selected mega-events and institutions to test and refine the framework, ensuring a manageable and effective rollout. 

3. Enhance data infrastructure: We recommend establishing a cross-sectoral task force to improve the cultural data ecosystem, integrating vital socio-demographic data for equity analysis and streamlining reporting for timely insights.  

4. Leverage academic partnership: We propose formally leveraging CLASS’s expertise to build sector capacity through practical toolkits and longitudinal studies, providing the deep, causal insights needed for long-term policy guidance. 

By adopting this collaborative and evidence-based approach, Hong Kong can address its social impact measurement gap. This will ensure accountability around cultural initiatives, guide the strategic allocation of resources, and powerfully demonstrate to citizens and the world how its cultural investments are building a more cohesive, and globally vibrant society. The moment is ripe for Hong Kong to take this step, joining other global cultural leaders in valuing and measuring the profound social returns of culture. 

For more information and to receive the white paper, please contact Prof. Esterina Nervino, email: e.nervino@cityu.edu.hk 

This article is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at City University of Hong Kong.