Creative placemaking serves livability, diversity, and economic development goals. Instead of a single arts centre or a cluster of large arts and cultural institutions, contemporary creative placemaking envisions a more decentralised portfolio of spaces acting as creative crucibles. In each, arts and culture exist cheek-by-jowl with private sector export and retail businesses and mixed-income housing, often occupying buildings and lots that had been vacant and under-used. Large cultural institutions, often inspired by their smaller counterparts, are increasingly engaging in active placemaking. This manual summarises two decades of creative American placemaking, drawing on original economic research and case studies of path breaking initiatives in large and small cities, metropolitan to rural, as well as published accounts.
