Thursday, September 12

Chester’s Future: Renaissance? Redevelopment? Gentrification? Community Development?

1. City of Chester. 2024. State of the City 2024. (PowerPoint slides). June 25 
2. City of Chester. 2023. Chester Vision 2035: The City of Chester Comprehensive Plan. April 
3. City of Chester. 2022. City of Chester Economic Competitiveness Plan 2022-2025 
4. Riverfront Alliance of Delaware County. 2020. Chester Waterfront Master Plan
   
   In each of these four planning documents, how do "art" and "leisure" (broadly defined) fit into the image of Chester's future?
   
   
5. Gentrification and the Artistic Dividend: The Role of the Arts in Neighborhood Change
6. Gentrification, Displacement and the Arts: Untangling the Relationship between Arts Industries and Place Change

For Readings #5 and #6, consider the following discussion questions:
Reading #5: From a critical social justice perspective, what are the ‘costs’ of the ‘artistic dividend’ for systematically marginalized communities? 
Reading #6: The authors write “In each of these [gentrification] scenarios, the arts –whether clusters of artists, artistic businesses, arts facilities or arts districts – are framed as changing the character of an area and, in this way, are assumed to play a causal role in the gentrification process” (2018: 810). 
Let’s consider this ‘process.’ Who are the actors? What is the sequence of changes? 
What is physical and symbolic appropriation in relation to gentrification and how does “art” contribute to both?

As a case study and possible comparisons, have a quick look at gentrification in Washington, DC's Shaw-U Street neighborhood: 
A Brief Overview of Shaw & U Street
Pushed Out (2019)