The CUI’s Connector practice is a leader in the field of municipal cultural planning, in which we see our role as assisting municipalities to plan for cultural vitality.

We are passionate about placemaking and its use as a catalyst for cultural vitality. We understand that culture is a function of place and we employ an approach to cultural planning that strives for the development of great places in which vibrant cultural activities can take root.

Current and past CUI staff have been engaged in municipal cultural planning and cultural mapping from early on and we have continued our involvement in major projects as this discipline has grown and taken shape. Senior members of the CUI have played an important role in many projects that have helped set the agenda for current practice in municipal cultural planning, including:

• “Canada’s Urban Waterfront, Waterfront Culture and Heritage Infrastructure Plan”, a 2001 study that was an early use of cultural mapping to put culture and creativity at the heart of Toronto’s waterfront revitalization.
• The 2003 and 2005 Creative Places and Spaces Conferences, which served an instrumental role in exploring the relationship between cultural development and economic revitalization.
• The Creative City Planning Framework, which helped set the cultural planning agenda for Toronto.

Collaborators

Through its cultural planning work, Connector has collaborated with many of the field's leading practitioners, including: Artscape, AuthentiCity (Greg Baeker), Carrie Brooks-Joiner, ERA Architects (Michael McClelland), Glen Murray, Gord Hume, Janis Barlow, Municipal Cultural Planning Partnership, and Novita.
 

Past Projects

Municipal Cultural Planning Indicators and Performance Measures Guidebook

The Canadian Urban Institute has developed a ‘how to’ guidebook that can be used by municipalities in Ontario to measure and evaluate the outcomes of municipal cultural planning (MCP) in their communities.  The guidebook contains  a framework for measuring MCP that examines inputs; processes that identify, strengthen and leverage cutlural resources and integrate MCP into municipal  planning and decision-making; and outcomes of MCP in terms of creativity, wealth creation, quality places, social cohesion and organizational change.

By using a menu approach, municipalities can  select indicators that work best with their strategic plans, economic development goals and quality of life priorities.The guidebook encourages municipalities to first decide on the story they want to tell and then select indicators from the menu that support that narrative.

One of the goals of this guidebook  is to enable municipalities that already do cultural planning to be better able to measure its impact. For municipalities who have not yet adopted MCP, this guidebook can demonstrate to decision makers that the impacts of MCP can be measured and evaluated. The guidebook  will help promote understanding about the role of MCP in creating cultural vitality in towns and cities in Ontario. 

This guidebook is a living document that we hope will be used, refined and adapted over time as municipalities put the indicators to work. We look forward to engaging in conversations with Ontario’s municipalities and working with them to refine and improve MCP performance evaluation.

The Canadian Urban Institute gratefully acknowledges the funding provided by the Government of Ontario and the contributions of the Ontario Arts Council, City of Barrie, City of Hamilton, City of Kingston, City of Kitchener, Town of Markham, City of Mississauga, City of Ottawa, City of Toronto, Patricia Area Community Endeavours (PACE) and the in-kind contribution of the Creative City Network of Canada.

Click here for a copy of the guidebook.

Kingston Culture Plan

Connector led a broad-based team of cultural and municipal experts to deliver this plan that will shape the cultural development of the Kingston community over the next ten years. Our engagement-focused approach saw our team connect with a wide range of constituencies both inside City Hall and within the community and has created lasting relationships that will help to pursue the City’s strategic objectives in a participatory and community based way. The resulting planarticulates a sustainable and authentic vision for cultural vitality in Kingston, and sets out recommendations under the themes of “Stories”, “Places” and “Capacity”. By making the case for the important contribution that culture makes toward wealth creation and quality of life, the Kingston Culture Plan has justified a substantial increase in investment toward culture beginning in 2011 and over the next 4 years.

Click here to find the report online.

Cultural Resource Mapping: A Guide for Municipalities

With the support of Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Connector was hired by the Municipal Cultural Planning Partnership (MCPP) to develop easy-to-read guidelines for Ontario municipalities on Cultural Resource Mapping. The guide provides step-by-step advice on building and maintaining a cultural resources database and describes many applications of Cultural Resource Mapping that support planning and policy making. It also includes several best practices and lessons learned from Ontario municipalities that have undertaken cultural mapping. As part of this project, we facilitated an interactive discussion with municipal stakeholders from across the province during the Making the Connection workshop, at the MaRS centre in March, 2010.

Click here to find the report online.

Mississauga Culture Master Plan

Connector was the lead consultant for the City of Mississauga’s first Culture Master Plan, in collaboration with cultural experts Artscape, AuthentiCity and Novita. The plan is based on extensive consultation with stakeholders in the arts, heritage and cultural industries, as well as youth, city builders, and leaders in the education, business and community spheres. The plan creates an evidence base from which to understand and strengthen Mississauga’s cultural resources, in a manner that contributes to the City’s broader strategic goals. It provides a 5-year and 25-year vision, as well as actionable recommendations that will enable Mississauga to become a more culturally vibrant place.

Click here to find the report online.

The cultural planning practice is part of Connector.