The Creative Economy Spurs Economic Development

The past decade has seen an increased interest in employing the arts as a community and economic development strategy. But this is not a new idea, Mark Stern, a social policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania, reminded participants at a Reinventing conference session on the arts and culture. This strategy dates back to the days of urban renewal in the 1960s when older industrial buildings and housing were replaced with symphony halls and cultural spaces. Today, however, there is interest in ?moving beyond larger, more mainstream investment in the arts to focus on more immediate, participatory strategies for engaging a wider urban community in the art world,? noted Stern, who moderated the session