Culture-Based Asset Mapping

Cultural asset mapping is a vital tool for planners who are interested in equitably engaging their communities. It is essential for local communities to identify and talk about their unique creative ecosystems in order to advocate for equitable allocation of resources, create equitable policies, and engage in community and economic development planning.

Presenters explain how arts and culture create a foundation of place and meaning, create community cohesion, and offer approaches to inclusive, equitable planning. Asset mapping is often familiar to planners, but if not interrogated, its practices can perpetuate inequities. Conversely, it can be a tool to address planning issues such as gentrification, creative adaptive reuse, cultural district and mixed-use development, and nighttime economy. Cultural-asset mapping, as presented here, is a way to rethink a steadfast planning tool.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Advanced. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.