ABSTRACT
In 2005, DC’s City Council adopted the DUKE Plan (Duke Plan) as a vision for redeveloping the U Street/Shaw neighborhood by drawing from the neighborhood’s historical period of “Black Broadway” between 1910 and 1948 as a place brand. The community would be recreated into multiple sub-neighborhoods that could serve as small-scale attractions for new residents and visitors. Noted for its inclusion of more than 500 residents in the planning process, the Duke Plan identified cultural landmarks, such as the Howard and Lincoln Theatres, as anchors for destinations, plazas, and transit-oriented development. Anchors serve as place markers that support the “Black Broadway” brand that celebrated the African American history, culture, and political accomplishments of the time period, including but not limited to, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall, and Carter G. Woodson, to name a few.
