Radhika Mohan

At the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, we hold several intimate sessions a year, each with 7-8 mayors and another 7-8 design and development professionals.

At every session, we hammer through case studies that the mayors bring and respond with concrete ways to begin implementing their project. Often, the critique on their urban design case studies sounds something like this: “This design could be anywhere, what makes this place in your city special and unique?”

I often call this the “avoiding the autotune” suggestion. Autotune, being the new(ish) technology of the music industry where a performer’s voice can be digitized, making anyone’s voice sound similar to one another in song.

One way to “avoid the autotune” is to bring artists into the mix of the planning process.

Many of us have written that art, as an expression of our cultural identity, can be a great communicator in the design of the public realm and institutional amenities. Through storytelling, mural-painting, exhibitions, and more, we can foster the exchange of ideas on important projects in our community.

In addition, artists are skilled in discovering the uniqueness of their subject matter. With their help, we can begin to design communities that reflect the very unique identity that makes each one so different.

In alluding again to the new census numbers, the United States is becoming increasingly more diverse, especially in our cities. As our communities reflect evolving demographics and new mixes of ethnicities and cultures, involving artists in our community planning processes will become even more important in creating successful projects.

This makes me think of a particular example in my hometown along University Avenue in St. Paul, MN.

This corridor will become the heart of a new light rail project connecting the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, called the Central Corridor Light Rail Line. Construction is underway and there is no doubt that local businesses, many of them owned by members of the Hmong community, will be affected during this process.

A local artist, Wing Young Huie, started The University Avenue Project in 2010, which brought attention to the area by showcasing members of the various neighborhoods along the corridor through his photography.

The photographs were shown nightly on a 40-foot screen in a vacant lot along the avenue, placed in retail storefronts, projected onto building walls, and were eventually compiled into a book.

With each shot, Huie’s photographs skillfully describe the diverse nature of the University Avenue communities. His artwork, along with a project funded by ArtPlace, can serve as a platform for on-going community engagement, which will increase the success of the light rail project (increased community engagement = increased project support).

More importantly, his ability to understand the delicate balance of diversity along the corridor will help “avoid the autotune” in the urban design of the Central Corridor Light Rail Line.

How do you, or others, "avoid the autotune" in your town or city?