Culture and Social Wellbeing in New York City—2014-2017

From 2014 to 2017, building on their work in Philadelphia, SIAP with Reinvestment Fund undertook a study of culture and social wellbeing in New York City. The project involved development of a 10-dimension social wellbeing framework—beginning with construction of a cultural asset index—for every neighborhood in New York City’s five boroughs. Integration of cultural assets into a multi-dimensional index of social wellbeing allows us to assess the contribution of culture and the arts to neighborhood ecology and their relationship to broader community vitality.

NYC’s social wellbeing tool enabled a variety of analyses: the distribution of opportunity across the City; identification of areas with concentrated advantage, areas with concentrated disadvantage, as well as “diverse and struggling” neighborhoods with both strengths and challenges; and analysis of the relationship of neighborhood cultural ecology to other features of community wellbeing. Qualitative neighborhood studies—with a focus on Fort Greene in Brooklyn and East Harlem in Manhattan—helped the research team interpret and elaborate the findings of the quantitative analyses.

The final research report (March 2017) and accompanying briefs (Feb 2016, Feb 2017) document the conceptual framework, data and methodology, findings and implications of the three-year project. Since release of the March 2017 report, the research team has completed four working papers on New York City that further explore the relationship of neighborhood cultural ecology to social wellbeing—the concepts that have animated the research—and expand our understanding of the dynamics of neighborhood change as the context within which cultural ecosystems evolve. Two papers discuss new methods, developed by SIAP and Reinvestment Fund, to assess rapid neighborhood change in light of citywide patterns of geographic mobility and displacement risk among residents.

The Culture and Social Wellbeing in New York City project was undertaken with support by the Surdna Foundation, the New York City Cultural Agenda Fund in the New York Community Trust, and the University of Pennsylvania. The research was conducted between 2014 and 2017.

 

 

Social Impact of the Arts Project

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Author: Reinvestment Fund × Subject: Urban Studies and Planning ×

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  • Publication
    Culture's Contribution to Social Wellbeing & Neighborhood Vitality
    (2016-02-01) University of Pennsylvania Social Impact of the Arts Project; Reinvestment Fund
    In the fall of 2014, building on their work in Philadelphia, Penn's Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) and Reinvestment Fund began to develop a policy tool to assess how culture contributes to social wellbeing in New York City neighborhoods. This brief is a summary of the project rationale--that is, why and how to measure social wellbeing--and its potential to guide policy toward more equitable and livable communities.
  • Publication
    Culture and Social Wellbeing in New York City: Highlights of a Two-Year Research Project
    (2017-02-01) University of Pennsylvania Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP); Reinvestment Fund
    Understanding the social value of the arts and culture in New York City neighborhoods was the goal of the research undertaken between 2014 and 2017 by Penn's Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) in collaboration with Reinvestment Fund. This brief is a summary of the conceptual framework, data and methodology, findings and implications of the research discussed in the full report--The Social Wellbeing of New York City's Neighborhoods: The Contributions of Culture and the Arts (March 2017).