Cultural Planning for Local Authorities is published as part of cultural policy studies of Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV). The report aims to constitute a source for local governments to include culture to their strategic planning processes.

The study situates culture at the heart of strategic planning by focusing on the role of culture as an engine of sustainable cities that creates liveable environments and helps the creative industries.

The report discusses the notion of cultural planning and the role of culture in public planning processes, while presenting the results of a comparative study of the strategic plans of different local governments in Istanbul as well as the results of a survey conducted with the municipalities of Amsterdam, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Toronto and Vienna. The report also has a section on the legal framework of strategic planning in local governments in Turkey.