Cultural Equity Planning

A Cultural Plan helps towns, cities, counties, regions, and states take account of their cultural assets, strengthen their economies by leveraging these assets, facilitate deeper social cohesion, and support the vibrancy of communities by focusing on what makes them so great in the first place: culture.

Arts & culture components of comprehensive plans that ensure diverse racial & ethnic communities are recognized in civic life, equitably served by arts & cultural offerings, & equitably invested in. The face of the nation is changing. By 2044, people of color will be the majority in the United States. As cities and regions seek to build on this vibrancy, build intercultural community, and redress historic underinvestment in communities of color, many are developing and implementing cultural plans by bringing an explicit racial and ethnic demographic lens to planning. According to Americans for the Arts "cultural planning is a public process in which representatives of a community undertake a comprehensive community assessment and create a plan of implementation for future cultural programming."

PolicyLink has adapted a form of planning that explicitly focuses on cultural equity as a dynamic, regular practice: a Cultural Equity Plan. This online tool provides guidance and resources for agencies and communities who would like to complete a plan that is dedicated to accomplishing cultural equity in their neighborhood, city, county, or region. By pointing to equity-focused approaches of cities engaging in this practice, it serves to promote equitable development through arts and culture.

• Timeframe to complete project: Less than a year, 1-5 years

• Cost range: Cost varies

• Keywords: Community & Cultural Assessments, Planning, Intermediate, Implementing, Strategies, Planning, Community, Diversity

• This project was created by PolicyLink. Click on the button below to access the resource.