Planning Commissioners Journal

Cultural Asset Mapping

Lessons learned from a project to map out four towns' cultural resources. by Rob Voigt; from PCJ #81 (Winter 2011); 2 pages Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post.

In recent years, urban planning, arts and culture, economic development, and city administration have found common ground in a raised awareness of the importance of culture to a community's livability and prosperity. In fact, cultural vitality is increasingly referred to as one of the four pillars of sustainability, along with social equity, economic health, and environmental responsibility. Numerous cities across North America have begun to leverage cultural assets for attracting business, investment, and people. Smaller municipalities often have serious challenges in competing with their larger urban cousins to achieve these kinds of successes. Cultural asset mapping (CAM) is used to understand and interpret the complex interrelationships of cultural elements for use in strategic planning and economic development and is scaleable for use in smaller municipalities. Cultural asset mapping has been defined as: "a process of collecting, recording, analyzing, and synthesizing information in order to describe the cultural resources, networks, links, and patterns of usage of a given community or group." Maps are most often understood as the indispensable tools that help us navigate our physical world. Cultural asset maps, by representing the spatial relationships between such things as artists, markets, fairgrounds, heritage sites, and buildings, help tell us about who we are, based on our unique identity, history, and cherished stories -- in other words, our culture. There are two categories for these maps: (1) resource maps, identifying and recording tangible cultural resources, such as buildings or locations; and, (2) community identity maps, identifying intangible cultural resources, such as the stories and traditions that define community identity. Cultural resource information that is spatially-based allows it to be integrated into municipal projects and land use planning in a number of ways: Awareness and marketing -- promoting culture with residents and tourists. Economic development -- targeting or facilitating entrepreneurial investment in creative cultural industries. Planning and policy -- informing municipal decision-making relating to land use, social planning, heritage planning, urban design, and place making. Networks and collaboration -- facilitating partnerships with cultural groups and identifying opportunities to maximize assets. From an Idea to a Strategy The cultural asset management project that I'll be describing has brought together four communities in a broad-ranging undertaking linking planning, culture, and economic development. ... the article continues with a look at the project Voigt worked on, involving four neighboring Ontario towns, and some lessons learned.

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Recognizing Our Assets

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

It’s an all too common failing, we tend to lose sight of the natural and man-made assets our communities offer: our history, our landmarks, our natural features, the special character of our downtowns and main streets.

Sometimes we recognize them too late, as Joni Mitchell reminds us in her well-known lyrics: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don't know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

In the Winter issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal (due out January 27th), you’ll find several articles on this theme. Gwendolyn Hallsmith starts by reminding us of the economic benefits that can come from recognizing our natural and cultural assets. You'll then read Rob Voigt’s account of how four towns in Ontario have come together to map them out.

Another way of enhancing our assets can come from a combination of strengthening our urban cores, while conserving farmland and natural resources. Beth Humstone discusses one tool for accomplishing this: urban growth boundaries.

As I mentioned last month, the Winter issue also marks the debut of a new partnership we've entered into with a terrific non profit organization, the Project for Public Spaces (PPS). One of their principal interests is ensuring that community assets, in particular parks and open spaces, are well-used and maintained. In our Winter issue, PPS staff highlight their eleven principles for creating great community places.

The physical character and beauty of our cities, towns, and countryside is also a valuable asset. Ed McMahon, a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute, argues that billboards undermine this, with negative economic impacts.

While some still claim that aesthetics is not within the purview of local government, the Supreme Court over a half-century ago said otherwise.[1] Moreover, as planning historian Laurence Gerckens has pointed out, the impetus for community planning in the U.S. at the turn of the 19th century centered on aesthetics: “realizing an inspiring good order in the public environment while protecting the positive qualities of both the natural environment and the cultural heritage.”[2]

Finally, let’s not forget that it’s engaged citizens who are any community’s most valuable asset -- including dedicated, informed planning board members. In our Winter issue, Carolyn Braun offers some great tips that should new planning commissioners be more effective in their new job.

Take a look at the full contents of our Winter issue -- and if you're not yet a subscriber, consider trying out the Planning Commissioners Journal for a year. 

[1] See Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954), where the Court found that “it is within the power of the legislature to determine that the community should be beautiful as well as healthy … .”

[2] See Gerckens, “Community Aesthetics & Planning,” PCJ #7 (Nov/Dec. 1992).

 

Travel on the Trans-Siberian Express ... Using Google Maps & Video

Do you have a week to spare to watch a video? What if it allowed you to travel on the Trans-Siberian Express across Russia? Well, you don't need a week -- you can pick and choose wherever along the route you'd like to be. Just use the Google Map linked to this video to shift you're location anywhere along the route -- you can also zoom in and out on the map. This is a truly remarkable use of Google maps -- and it's also quite addictive (like the famous Shiba Inu Puppy Cam). 

Either click here or on the screenshot image below to go to the Moscow-Vladivostock Trans-Siberian web page.