Making power visible: Business improvement districts and creative placemaking in Washington, DC

Business improvement districts represent a privatising urban governance instrument that visibly transforms urban landscapes. In the United States, the racialised impacts of business improvement districts require examination. Through a discussion of Washington, DC, a city profoundly injured by racist planning histories, we illustrate how business improvement districts, as part of a broader entrepreneurial regime, have driven gentrification citywide since the late 1990s. Focusing on the intersection of redevelopment and 'creative placemaking', we make visible the contradictions embedded in this business improvement district urbanism, which has harnessed the work of a network of actors to revalorise urban space while erasing working class places and in DC, its Black cultural, political and economic space.

Automated summary

Business improvement districts are a visible urban governance instrument that significantly changes urban landscapes. In the United States, the racial impacts of these districts need to be examined. By discussing Washington, DC as a city deeply affected by racist planning histories, it is shown how business improvement districts, as part of a wider entrepreneurial regime, have driven gentrification throughout the entire city since the late 1990s. By focusing on the intersection of redevelopment and creative placemaking, the contradictions within this business improvement district urbanism are made clear, highlighting how it has revalorized urban space while erasing working class places and the Black cultural, political, and economic space in DC.