Urban renewal is the collective term used to describe ways of constructively dealing with the problems cities encounter due to poverty and overpopulation; in effect, it is the process of reversing the current state of decline in the quality of life in inner city America. This includes not just providing adequate inner-city housing, but also including downtown, culture-based initiatives in cities' plans and goals for the future. This includes: libraries and hsitory centers, museums and galleries, scheduling performance art events for the general public, and providing funds for inner city artists to create Public Art. To commit to these activities and view them as an economic strategy, instead of a superfluous commodity, is a smart investment in our cities' futures.
A good example of the impact the Arts has on the economy can be seen at the Pennsylvania Alliance for the Arts website - Economic Impact of the Arts in Pennsylvania.
RECOMMENDED READING
- "Culture: A strategic economic asset," by Luis Cancel
- "Federal Cultural Support: a new contract for the 21st Century," by
Margaret Jane Wyszomirski & Roberta Dunn
- American Council For the Arts, Why We Need the Arts : Eight Quotable Speeches by Leaders in Education, Government, Business, and the Arts, New York: ACA Books, 1989.
NOTE: Speeches given at the 1988 National Arts Convention, discussing the relationship of the arts with the economic, educational, and political sectors of American society.
- Cassidy, Robert. Livable Cities: A Grass-roots Guide to Rebuilding Urban America.New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, 1980.
NOTE: A how-to text for urban renewal from the citizenÕs perspective. illustrations and bibliography.
- Gilmartin, Gregory F. Shaping the City: New York and the Municipal Art Society. New York: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1995.
NOTE: An account of the one hundred year relationship between the Municipal Art Society and New York City Government. Subjects include Urban Beautification, City Planning, Conservation and Restoration of New York City. Illustrations, bibliography.
- Green, Kevin W. ed. The City as a Stage: strategies for the arts in urban economics. Washington D. C.:Partners for Livable Places, 1983.
NOTE: co-authored by 17 authorities on the subject. covers a multitude of topics including: Itzhak Perlman making the case for access to the arts for disabled persons, and Harvard Business School's analysis of the economic impact of the cultural cultural revitalization of six U. S. cities.
- Heilburn, James. The Economics of Art and Culture: an American perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
NOTE: a comprehensive text on the economics of the Fine and Performing Arts, and public policy toward the Arts at Federal, State, and Local levels. Economic concepts are explained at a level that non-economists can follow.
- Keens, William, ed. Arts and the Changing City: an agenda for urban regeneration. London: British American Arts Association, 1989.
NOTE: a report of a symposium of the same name which had at its main focus to explore the Òpractical applications of involving the arts in the process of urban renewal.Ó[introduction p. 9] Cities that were studied include - Chicago, Pittsburgh, Lowell, Charleston in the U.S. and Glasgow, Liverpool, Dundee, Swansea in the U.K.
- Von Eckardt, Wolf. Live the Good Life. New York: American Council for the Arts, 1982.
NOTE: makes a strong argument that cultural vitality stimulates social and economic vitality. Historical overview; emphasis on city planning, cultural identity, urban revitalization.