Current directions in cultural planning

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes the current state of the emerging field of cultural planning, utilizing survey data from 54 communities across the US, as well as planning documents from 32 communities. Community groups engage in cultural planning primarily to gain direction. The scope of cultural planning is broadly defined in most plans to include far more than just the arts, emphasizing instead the arts in the context of, and in relation to, the whole community. Recommendations typically address such matters as resources and facilities for the arts, arts education, marketing and promotion, inter-organizational cooperation, and community development. Cultural plans are prepared by various combinations of professionals and lay people, with a loosely defined division of labor: citizens formulate the plan's substance, facilitated by a professional who designs the process and prepares the final document. In addition to a document, communities expect the planning process to yield improved community and inter-organizational relations. A great variety of ‘models’ of planning are being followed, although the documents often fail to specify the process followed. The documents have only about half a dozen features in common, another indication of the newness of the field. Cultural plans more often than not are well received in terms of receiving praise from the media and public officials, being formally adopted by the local government, and having resources committed to them. Many features of the planning process, the document, and the follow-up that would enhance the chances for plan implementation could be greatly improved. The field is seen as one that will only grow, and that can stand improvement. Professional planners should become more involved in cultural planning. That involvement could improve the plans, heighten the likelihood of their implementation, and help them more with comprehensive plans and hence with the community.