New studies on urban planning continue to uphold ULI’s 2017 list of 10 best practices in creative placemaking. They underscore three of those practices as essential to optimizing the value of real estate development projects: shared vision, early artist/community engagement, and clear stakeholder benefits.
The Domino Sugar Refinery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, transformed into a billion-dollar mixed use residential, office, and retail hub, tells its story in part through architecture. The building retains its 1882 skin and has public art dotting its walls and public spaces.
Juanita Hardy
What exactly is creative placemaking? In real estate, it involves bringing in art and culture, alongside great design, at the start of the development process. Creative placemaking is especially useful in transforming neglected public places into vibrant hubs of activity and commerce that can uplift an entire community, even a city. Here’s what it takes to ensure such projects are ultimately successful.
Top 3 best practices
1. Start at the end
At the outset, shape a shared vision of the final goal, one that has buy-in from all parties involved. Smartly designed parks and public spaces can add much to a local community’s sense of well-being, and promote healthy lifestyles among its residents. As with any major project, though, consider also the negative outcomes to be avoided, such as resident displacement, or practices that run counter to diversity and equity goals. Think outside the box, identify clear objectives that need to be accomplished, and set benchmarks along the way.
The 11th Street Bridge Park in southeast Washington, D.C., aims to break ground later this year to connect two diverse neighborhoods on either side of the Anacostia River. One goal is to keep low-income residents from being forced out by rising rents and property values. According to Scott Kratz—senior vice president of Building Bridges Across the River, the nonprofit leading the development—the group has helped turn 153 former renters into homeowners through its innovative Ward 8 Home Buyers Club initiatives, including $2,500 grants toward closing costs.
![Sugar Hill Museum[1].jpg](https://cdn-ul.uli.org/dims4/default/d393ef4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1632x919+0+153/resize/1000x563!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk2-prod-uli.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F56%2F33%2Fc0fe3721441bacacda4e6488ac9b%2Fsugar-hill-museum1.jpg)
New York City’s Broadway Housing Communities took the unconventional path of envisioning a children’s museum as part of an affordable housing complex in Harlem’s historic Sugar Hill District. Today, the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling thrives at the St. Nicholas Avenue/155th Street intersection, and celebrates the neighborhood’s rich history, from the Harlem Renaissance, early in the 20th century, onward. The museum serves as an educational center for children of all ages and as an important gathering place.
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Historic West End, the city’s oldest surviving middle-class African American community, is a beneficiary of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan that was developed to guide the city’s rapid growth. Having attracted substantial public and private investments in the area recently, its residents created the Historic West End Initiative, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and managed by a local nonprofit, Charlotte Center City Partners. This step inspired the creation of Five Points Plaza, a public space across the street from the historically black Johnson C. Smith University. The plaza includes a small amphitheater, a splash pad, outdoor seating, and public art that celebrates the West End’s rich African American history and culture.
2. Engage artists and the community early in the process
Involving local artists can be key to establishing a strong rapport between developers and the larger community. This practice is especially important as the location’s culture and history are incorporated into designs.
The Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, provides an excellent example of community-led revitalization. Once an industrial area served by the Gowanus Canal, today it’s a public showcase of art studios, offices, and residential buildings, a reflection of its historic past that still embraces the modern world. Gowanus has netted billions of dollars in investments in the last five years, driven largely by major rezoning and redevelopment initiatives.
An icon of this remarkable transformation is the historic 19th-century Old American Can Factory, now a creative hive of artists, writers, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs. Community engagement has been central to its revitalization, says Johnny Thornton, artist and executive director of Arts Gowanus.
“We wanted to ensure that the people and history of this place prevailed,” says Thornton. “And while we welcome newcomers, we are committed to retaining a diverse, inclusive, vibrant community.”
3. “What’s in it for me?”
Articulating the stakeholder benefits of any project comes down to WIIFM: what’s in it for me? Because perceived benefits vary, each party’s wants and needs should be addressed as early as possible. For example, the community may be more interested in the cultural aspects of a placemaking project, whereas developers may be more focused on retail leasing. When done properly, though, the WIIFM process can facilitate early support and collaboration, and help move a project forward along social, economical, health, and environmental lines.
Bethlehem SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is a prime example of such mutual collaboration. The century-old former steel plant is now a sprawling art and entertainment complex. The economic benefit to the city from this once-dilapidated structure has grown annually—$123 million in 2023. That would seem enough incentive to garner community support, but many residents still lamented the factory’s closing and didn’t want to see that legacy erased. So, that story was preserved through the design, with historical markers and an elevated walking path from which visitors can overlook the old steelworks.
Cleveland, Ohio’s historically black Hough neighborhood endured neglect for decades. Recent investments and concerns around preserving the Hough culture and keeping its people in place led the city to sponsor a Technical Assistance Panel in 2023, enabled through ULI Cleveland District Council’s participation as a cohort in ULI’s Art in Place program. TAP recruited a multidisciplinary team of panelists, including real estate professionals and artists, who studied the Hough area and interviewed residents, leaders of local businesses (including real estate), and city officials. The panel developed a set of recommendations that appealed to all Hough stakeholders, including displacement avoidance initiatives, workforce development, developer incentives, and the creation of a Black arts district to celebrate a rich history.
Marching forward
The primary reason to take best practices in creative placemaking seriously is its proven ability to enhance real estate project value by ensuring a vibrant, healthy, sustainable place where people want to live, work, and play. Although all 10 best practices are important, the trio here constitutes the most essential ones to optimize that value. By using leading best practices in creative placemaking, any public project can be a successful model worthy of emulation.
Featured research includes:
Toronto Metropolitan University’s 2023 study on the importance of art, culture, and community engagement in creating the most value, especially when done early in the design process.
NINE dot ARTS, a private consulting firm, emphasized in its 2023 State of the Art Report the transformative power of art, culture, and community engagement in shaping vibrant and sustainable public places.
Volume 3 of The Place Economy, published by Australia-based Hoyne, has 80-plus essays about place, including discussions of art and community engagement, and how to use them to achieve vibrant and inclusive places.
