Beyond ‘Dullsville’?: Culture in the Perth City Space – An Interpretive Policy Analysis of the Public Value Measurement Framework

This thesis explores how Perth city experienced what Tom O'Regan described as a 'cultural policy moment', whereby policymakers begin to recognise that culture and creativity can be key drivers of economic and social outcomes. This thesis analyses the Public Value Measurement Framework, an example of cultural policy in WA, to explore the recent cultural policy shape in WA. The discourses of the Public Value Measurement Framework and surrounding policy artefacts demonstrate that while cultural valuation plays a performative role in the generation of a discourse of culture as valuable, this can also serve to reinforce specific conceptions of culture.