ABSTRACT
Planners, community development practitioners and local policymakers concerned with equitable development, and resilient communities need to look beyond land uses, housing types, transit, jobs, walkable neighborhoods and other policy solutions. The scope of work within these community-building professions rarely includes development of social capital and civic capacity. When communities include social capital and civic capacity in their community development efforts, the results can include more resilient communities overall. Some communities have discovered new tools and new partners, and that one of the best ways to build capacities is through formation of thematic neighborhoods or cultural districts working in partnership with arts and culture organizations and using highly participatory and creative planning and community engagement practices.
