Creative Placemaking on Vacant Properties: Lessons Learned from Four Cities

What would you think if you saw an abandoned house painted entirely gold? Or stumbled upon performance art, led by young people, on a long-vacant lot? Incorporating the arts into place-based community development can spark fresh interest in vacant property. At the same time, creative placemaking, as a community-centered process, is a powerful tool to support equitable revitalization.

This Center for Community Progress report offers practical guidance for communities curious about how to leverage the power of creative placemaking to transform vacant properties. It includes a creative placemaking primer and key takeaways based on work conducted over the course of two years. It also explores emerging practices in four communities: Kalamazoo, Michigan; Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania; Newburgh, New York; and Macon, Georgia.

DOWNLOAD REPORT as published by Center for Community Progress on August 20, 2018.