Presentation Title
Re-Imagining Providence: Creative Placemaking, Citizen Engagement, and the Post-Industrial City
Abstract
Providence, Rhode Island is a city that has experienced continuous change in its urban and social fabric. In just over two centuries, the city donned multiple titles: port city, industrial powerhouse, and the ‘renaissance city.’ More recently, the city gained a new title. In 2009, Providence embarked on the ‘Creative Capital’ campaign. With this re-branding, city officials hoped to present Providence as a creative hub in an effort to attract creative individuals to live and work in the city and to promote cultural tourism. In the same year, the Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism implemented a cultural plan entitled “Creative Providence” in order to provide substantive projects and initiatives to achieve this image. Utilizing Richard Florida’s idea of the “Creative City” as a theoretical lens, I explore Providence’s transformation into the “Creative Capital” of the Northeast. In this examination, I employ a mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis, photography, and geospatial technologies. My analysis will focus chiefly on three themes: citizen engagement, neighbourhood redevelopment, and creative placemaking.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Pablo Bose
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Geography
Primary Research Category
Social Sciences
Re-Imagining Providence: Creative Placemaking, Citizen Engagement, and the Post-Industrial City
Providence, Rhode Island is a city that has experienced continuous change in its urban and social fabric. In just over two centuries, the city donned multiple titles: port city, industrial powerhouse, and the ‘renaissance city.’ More recently, the city gained a new title. In 2009, Providence embarked on the ‘Creative Capital’ campaign. With this re-branding, city officials hoped to present Providence as a creative hub in an effort to attract creative individuals to live and work in the city and to promote cultural tourism. In the same year, the Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism implemented a cultural plan entitled “Creative Providence” in order to provide substantive projects and initiatives to achieve this image. Utilizing Richard Florida’s idea of the “Creative City” as a theoretical lens, I explore Providence’s transformation into the “Creative Capital” of the Northeast. In this examination, I employ a mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis, photography, and geospatial technologies. My analysis will focus chiefly on three themes: citizen engagement, neighbourhood redevelopment, and creative placemaking.