A Vision for Equitable Community Development published by the American Society of Landscape Architects highlights the importance of public place-making in establishing stronger relationships between neighbors.

https://dirt.asla.org/2016/06/06/a-vision-for-equitable-urban-development/

Aviva Kapust, the director for the center responsible for the Village of Arts and Humanities says the Village is looking ahead and to determine whether they should use “arts and culture to generate community economic development, or aim for community economic development, using arts as a tool; they are two separate things.” If the distinction is that the former is developing the local economy from within, and the latter is soliciting companies based out of the neighborhood to set up shop, the former is the direction the Village should select.

Establishing a local Lean Economy requires stronger relationships between the people living in a community. While the Lean Economy proposal is designed for a scale about one hundred times that of the Village, their success in creating transformative public spaces is evidence that land use and architectural design have a vital role in growing the local economy.