Communities across the United States are integrating the arts into their development efforts. Emerging as a viable approach, community development based on the arts is increasingly being recognized as a catalysing force. This article presents a typology of arts-based community development approaches: arts business incubators, artists’ cooperatives, development of tourism venues and comprehensive approaches. Five community vignettes illustrate the different approaches, providing evidence of the effectiveness of arts-based development. Considerations for communities include the need to be flexible and creative in programme implementation, as well as forming a strong basis of support for the arts.

Place attachment is a multidimensional concept about bonds people have for the places with which they interact. We are intrigued by its implications and potential influences on community development, particularly when explored from a community-oriented view. We use the case of Sunnyslope (a place within the Phoenix, Arizona municipal boundary) and a community development assessment conducted with stakeholders there. This community has survived through the decades, despite being subsumed into one of the largest cities in the United States. From 27 stakeholder interviews, we uncovered deep attachments to Sunnyslope that appear to have an interaction effect with social community capacity.

Ample attention is paid to the role of arts and culture in community and economic development. however, much less attention is given to its role at the neighborhood area, as well as relationships to local or community tourism. Our goal in this article is to explore how arts and the creative industries influence community-based tourism in neighborhoods needing revitalization. Using an embedded case study analysis approach, two areas were explored: one in the Roosevelt Arts District in Phoenix, Arizona and the other in the South End Arts + Business District in Burlington, Vermont. We find that arts and creative industries do indeed play a role in fostering neighborhood revitalization. Much of the activity centers on fostering capacity building and social interactions, leading to community development outcomes. In both cases, revitalization is occurring. lessons learned are presented, illustrating the importance of arts and culture in a framework of community-based tourism and revitalization.