Arts and Equitable Development is taking place in Brooklyn; Skid Row, Los Angeles; Harlan County, KY; and beyond. This conference call featured presentations by Higher Ground, Los Angeles Poverty Department, Housing is a Human Right, Laundromat Project, and Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC). Check out this great conversation here.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Culture Before Politics

In this American Prospect article, Jeff Chang and Brian Komar argue that, in freeing creativity, progressives can once again capture and carry forward our national imagination.
 

The Fair Housing Five and the Haunted House

Greater New Orleans Fair Action Housing Center's new children's book features a group of kids taking creative action against housing discrimination, with full color illustrations by Sharika Mahdi-Neville.

This white paper by Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa, written for the Mayor's Institute on City Design, summarizes two decades of creative American placemaking.

Intractable Democracy

From Pratt Institute's Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development, this new anthology reflects on the legacy of community-based planning in New York. Includes the essay, "Taking Over and Talking Back: Theater as a Forum for Gentrification."

This online project of the Architectural League features a discussion with Arts + Community Change and Fourth Arts Block about how a better understanding of naturally occurring cultural districts can inform a more holistic approach to cultural policy. 

 ALSO RECOMMENDED: REPORTS, WEBSITES & TOOL KITS

Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It

Dr. Mindy Fullilove describes the "root shock" suffered when neighborhoods are physically uprooted. Additional articles about root shock can be found here.

Creative Community Builders Handbook: How to Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts and Culture

Tom Borrup provides a step-by-step guide to building economic, social, civic and physical community infrastructure through the arts.

Based at the University of Pennsylvania, SIAP conducts research on the role of arts and culture in American cities with a particular interest in strategies for arts-based revitalization.

Making the Case for Skid Row Culture

Research by John Malpede of the Los Angeles Poverty Department and Maria Jackson of the Urban Institute finds that culture on Skid Row grows from the ground up, often initiated by residents.

These stories, recorded in NYC, were initially presented at a Brooklyn laundromat (in partnership with the Laundromat Project).

International

Charles Landry

Landry's website features writings about how cities can creatively shape their futures by drawing on the culture of a place.

The Fourth Pillar of Sustainability: Culture's Essential Role in Public Planning

Jon Hawkes argues that cultural vitality is essential to a healthy and sustainable society.

Toolkits

Teaching tools about land use and urban development in New York City, including an interactive income map and affordable housing resources.

PolicyLink: Equitable Development Toolkit

27 tools to reverse patterns of segregation and disinvestment, prevent displacement, and promote equitable revitalization.