re-presenting the city: arts, culture, and diversity in philadelphia

Re-presenting the City:Arts, Culture, and Diversity

in Philadelphia

Niina Vajavaara

Introduction

Economic and ethnic segregation defines the image of the city Diversity is an important element of urbanism

04.05.23 Re-presenting the City: Arts, Culture, and Diversity in Philadelphia 2

Beyond ”City Trenches”

The location of arts and cultural organizations is not related to race or social class, they are concentrated in neighborhoods that are ethnically and economically diverse


Beyond ”City Trenches”

Arts and cultural institutions and cultural engagement identify diverse urban neighborhoods

Community arts and cultural institutions are the most important and numerous organizations in these neighborhoods

Diverse neighborhoods with high levels of cultural engagement usually help urban communities with their revitalization


Geographic Distribution of Arts and Cultural

OrganizationsThere are approximately 1 200 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and informal associations

The biggest concentration of organizations is in Philadelphia’s Center City 80 % of cultural organizations are outside of the Center City


Geographic Distribution of Arts and Cultural

Organizations Arts and cultural institutions make up a big part of all social organizations Arts and cultural organizations are usually located in the same neighborhoods that have also other types of social institutions


Geographic Distribution of All Social Organizations

All types of social organizations have a tendency to gather in certain parts of the metropolitan area There are over 14 000 community organizations of other types than arts and cultural organizations In majority of Philadelphia, over 25 % of all institutions are churches

Most often churches are the majority of social institutions in the suburbs


Neighborhood Socio-economic Characteristics

In poor neighborhoods, there are more social organizations than in the wealthier ones Neighborhoods with higher amount of young adults, have more all kinds of institutions Arts and cultural organizations succeed in ethnically and economically diverse neighborhoods better than other social institutions


Neighborhood Diversity

The highest number of all types of social organizations are located in poor and African-American neighborhoods Almost 25 % of the residents of Philadelphia live in ethnically diverse block group


Neighborhood Diversity

11 % of Philadelphians live in white/African-American neighborhoods 5 % live in Latino/African-American neighborhoods 4 % live in neighborhoods with a major Asian-American population 3 % live in other diverse neighborhoods


Diversity and the Location of Social Organizations

There are much more organizations in neighborhoods that have majority of African-Americans than in the ones that have majority of white residents, however neighborhoods with residents of many ethnic groups have the highest number of social organizations In neighborhoods that are both economically and ethnically diverse, the amount of cultural organizations is more than five times the average


Patterns of Cultural Participation

The mainstream patternThe most common pattern of cultural participation Identifies parts of the city with high levels of participation in the city’s largest cultural institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Arts and the Philadelphia Orchestra

The Alternative pattern Identifies parts of the metropolitan area with high levels of participation in newer and more experimental cultural institutions


Patterns of Cultural Participation

Participation In these patterns differ mostly on their socio-economic features

In mainstream pattern, economic status is a major factor in participation In alternative pattern, participation is strongest in more diverse neighborhoods


The Social Impact of the Arts

More than one third of all the residents live in a block group that is either economically or ethnically diverseThere are many different types of social organizations in the urban neighborhoods Arts and cultural institutions improve the quality of community life and also help revitalizing the neighborhood


The Social Impact of the Arts

Social, special interest, professional and labor organizations are concentrated in neighborhoods with low poverty and only few ethnical groups Without cultural organizations, there would be only few connections between the rich and the poor and among different ethnic groups. It is important that cultural organizations draw people from local neighborhoods and from the wider region into some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods


Thank you for your attention!


re-presenting the city: arts, culture, and diversity in philadelphia

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