Don’t forget about the creative community in the rebuild of US infrastructure
Source: Smart Cities Dive By Rip Rapson and Regina Smith
Let’s incorporate community voices — and local artists — in infrastructure projects from the very beginning to find transformational solutions to community needs.
The history of U.S. urban renewal is laced with tragedy: Federal infrastructure projects meant to reimagine our cities for the better instead deepened racial divides, sundering once-vibrant Black and brown neighborhoods and facilitating disastrous commuter sprawl. Look no further than the destruction of once-vibrant Black neighborhoods like Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in Detroit or Seneca Village in New York. The policies from decades ago continue to reverberate today as ever-present reminders of the harm that can be generated by federal spending that fails to fully account for racial equity and opportunity.
Last fall, President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure law, a once-in-a-generation, $1.2 trillion investment into the country’s roads, bridges, public transit, climate preparedness, water systems, high-speed internet access and passenger rail. Simply put, the law is the most transformative federal investment of our lifetimes in the U.S. built environment.
To turn that investment in a very different direction than problematic earlier infrastructure projects requiresa deeply intentional, and appropriately resourced, elevation of community voices. Each community’s voices can identify the outcomes and methods of execution capable of delivering new, transformational results — results that reimagine the roles that public infrastructure can play in revitalizing and fortifying community life.
The interests that reinforce prevailing approaches to infrastructure are deeply entrenched, thus achieving change will require creativity and political fortitude. Perhaps somewhat counterintuitively, one of the most effective ways of doing that is to enlist artists and culture workers.