Leading British cities are jostling to be in line to become one of the British Cities of Culture Andy Burnham, culture secretary, wants to see every four years.

Speaking at the end of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, he said he had invited Phil Redmond, the television producer credited with the success of the year on Merseyside, to lead a feasibility panel looking at the idea.

He said that Liverpool’s success had underlined the importance of culture to urban regeneration, and that London no longer had a hegemony of artistic excellence.

“By receiving national recognition as a city of culture, every city in the UK could be given an opportunity to bring out the creative skills, talent and enthusiasm of its people – to showcase itself on the national stage” Burnham said, “and change people’s perceptions of how the city sees itself and how it is seen by the rest of the country.”

The first city to take up the mantle would do so in 2011, as a prelude to the London Olympics the following year. He said Redmond’s panel would “consider how frequently it would be awarded, but a working assumption could be a four-year cycle. It would also need to consider a core list of events that the winning city would gain the right to host – events such as the Turner Prize or the Brit Awards and a range of others.

“I’m delighted that the BBC has already indicated its enthusiasm to play a central part in making Cities of Culture a reality.”

The cities that have already put their hats in the ring include Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Durham and Derby.

Durham city councillors announced they were putting together a £1.6million arts masterplan in time for 2011.

In Derby, Quad director Keith Jeffrey said Derby would be able to make a good case for the title. “Derby would be an outsider but going for the title would raise the profile of the city” he said.

The heads of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Opera North and Northern Ballet Theatre have urged Leeds councillors to make a bid. Richard Mantle, general director of Opera North said: “I think Leeds has a lot to play for. There are very few cities in Britain that are home to a resident Opera company, that also has dance companies – we have two – and we have repertory theatre.”

And in Birmingham, Ray Hassall, the cabinet member for culture, said that the city already had a considerable track record in hosting cultural events. “We are extremely keen to enter into talks with the Department for Culture Media and Sport to see how our great city can benefit from this long overdue initiative.”

Meanwhile, Nalgao, the association of local government arts workers, has welcomed Burnham’s proposal. Nalgao chair Lorna Brown said: “Liverpool’s Capital of Culture programme would not have happened without a committed and imaginative local authority at its core. It is also heartening to find central government finally acknowledging the role and power of culture in regeneration, recognising the importance of culture in a recessionary times”. Nalgao also wants any examining committee to draw eligibility criteria broadly enough to include Britain’s smaller cities.

Culture secretary Andy Burnham has warned arts organisations to brace themselves for possible cuts in 2010. Burnham said that the cultural industries were not immune from the government’s savings drives, and should start making contingency plans in case funding is cut next year.

His comments came after persistent rumours that the Comprehensive Spending Review of 2007, which had been surprisingly generous to the arts and heritage, could be revised because of the global financial crisis.

He said his message was not ‘telling people to put everything on hold’, but that ‘in the climate we’re in, rightly, the Treasury is saying for every pound of investment we receive we’re going to have to secure maximum return in terms of impact in the economy’.

However, he added: ‘While I am the person who has to relay that message to the arts world, I can also assure the arts world that I will relay an equally vociferous message back to government, that the relatively small amount of funding here produces a huge amount of benefit, not just socially, educationally, culturally, but also economically.’

The 2007 settlement gave the Arts Council a £20m boost over the following three years, but the main increase would be in the last fiscal year, 2010/11. A cut back in the ACE grant could mean a grant only keeping pace with inflation.

A DCMS spokesman added: ‘Our response to the economic downturn has to be realistic and we have to assess the situation as it develops. The Chancellor’s Pre Budget Report announced £5bn of efficiency savings to be delivered across government. We certainly cannot expect further cash from the Treasury during the current spending review period and we will need to look carefully at whether we are getting maximum benefit from our current expenditure plans. We are not there yet, but realistically government, and the cultural sector in general, may need to be ready to take some tough choices about priorities for funding.’