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New Urban Land Institute Report Explores Best Practices for Wildfire Resilience
A new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) highlights the devastating impact of wildfires on communities and how the real estate
Early engagement with the community and inclusion of culturally significant art can create developments that benefit the existing community and lead to greater return on investment.
Juanita Hardy, of Tiger Management Consulting Group, has contributed her creative placemaking expertise to many Advisory Services panels. Her article “Leveraging Creative Placemaking in Equitable Development” highlights the creative placemaking recommendations from an Advisory Services panel for Downtown South, Raleigh, North Carolina on which she served.
By Juanita Hardy
November 4, 2020
ULI’s commitment to equitable development is especially important now as recent events spotlight vast inequalities in the United States.
At the time of this writing, more than 189,000 American lives have been lost to the virus causing COVID-19. A disproportionate number of those deaths are among African Americans, many living in poverty and considered at high risk due to poor living conditions. Protests that erupted across the country after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer, were powered in part by anger about systemic conditions that for generations have suppressed the economic mobility—and therefore quality of life—of many people of color.
Advancing equitable development—aimed at reducing disparities and promoting healthy, vibrant places—can have a significant positive impact on some of the social challenges of our times. Also important is that equitable development makes good business sense. Studies have shown that regions that value equity and inclusion outperform those that do not and sustain healthy rates of economic growth.
Leaders in real estate development are key contributors to and beneficiaries of healthy economic growth. Equitable development projects that appeal to the senses of a diverse community often employ place-based strategies that encompass art and culture—an approach known as creative placemaking. Even in times of crisis and division, art and culture interventions provide a platform that facilitates communication among diverse groups and across perspectives.