Most years, the hottest topics at the urban journalists’ forum organized by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy are issues the political world is talking about—from climate change to President Obama’s national rail initiative. But this April was a bit different. During two days of discussions about “the contested city”—put together in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Lincoln Institute, the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design—attention shifted for a while from Tea Party politics and troubled government finances to the boost that “creative” activity can give an urban economy. Ever since Richard Florida published
The Rise of the Creative Class in 2002, urbanists have taken comfort in the idea that “creative” people (however they’re defined) have the power to do great things for the cities in which they congregate. Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a professor in public policy at the University of Southern California and author of
The Warhol Economy, passionately pursued that theme during this year’s forum, insisting that individuals in fields such as fashion, art, and music need to cluster together so that they can pursue their interests and advance their careers. Such clustering benefits the cities or districts in which arts-oriented people gather. Los Angeles and New York were cited as prime examples. “The exact same person in a different place has a lot less opportunity,” Currid-Halkett insisted. “You have to be in the place where it’s all happening.” I’ve noticed recently that advocates for art and artists are taking the Creative Class perspective one step further—arguing that if creative activities are good for cities, then cities ought to do everything possible to encourage artists by opening up opportunities for them, including giving them a chance to apply their talents to public spaces. Roger Cummings, co-founder and artistic director of
Juxtaposition Arts, an arts-oriented community development corporation in Minneapolis, told the forum about his organization’s role in orchestrating artistic activity in the Twin Cities—especially in a minority area known as North Minneapolis. With encouragement from Juxtaposition Arts, young people paint murals of many different kinds on the sides of buildings and produce other kinds of art work as well.
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