Kresge has defined creative placemaking as the integration of arts, culture, and community-engaged design strategies into community development and urban planning. The paper Creative Placemaking and Expansion of Opportunity: Observations and Reflections offers ideas and critical needs as the field continues to develop through leaders, practitioners, philanthropy, and community members interested in building healthy, equitable communities.

A clear understanding of the sources and consequences of urban inequality, including its historic roots, and reframing the rule of arts, culture, and design in vulnerable communities, are among the field’s needs identified in the paper written by Maria Rosario Jackson, senior advisor with Kresge’s Arts & Culture Program.