Investing with Intention: Civic Engagement
7 strategies to nurture trust and strengthen democracy
Americans may be more disconnected from each other than ever. This is seen in many social and economic trends: With each passing year, we speak to our neighbors less and trust one another less. Faith in our civic institutions — government, business, the media — is declining. We are more likely to live in neighborhoods that are segregated by income, political persuasion and cultural beliefs. And while recent national elections have seen high levels of voter turnout, U.S. democracy has been challenged by internal and external actors, and polls show that most Americans are worried about the future of democracy.
With democracy itself at stake, many solutions are needed. One promising answer can be found in communities that are prioritizing civic engagement in their approach to public space. In these places, people are engaging in local civic life in new and meaningful ways — and this participation is helping to counteract concerning trends from social isolation to high rates of crime.
Our new guide, Investing with Intention: Civic Engagement, highlights research about the many benefits of a civically engaged community and shares seven strategies practitioners can use to transform their approach to public space in ways that foster trust, increase public life and strengthen democracy.
Civic engagement is about participation in civic life, and it spans well beyond official roles like elected office or jury duty. Voting, completing the Census and advocating for an infrastructure improvement or policy change are examples of civic engagement. As are acts of service such as participating in a park friends group or getting involved in the design, programming or maintenance of a local trail or community center.
A civically engaged society is associated with a number of benefits that, given the challenges we are facing, are direly needed in the U.S. today. People who live in communities with robust local civic life trust one another more, share more resources and experience a greater sense of social cohesion. And when people have higher levels of trust, economies are bolstered and democracy is strengthened.
Lexington builds trust through prototyping and co-creation
Lexington, Kentucky, provides a compelling example of what can happen when civic engagement is prioritized. Every summer, the fountain at Thoroughbred Park in downtown Lexington fills with kids splashing and playing. The fountain’s water is untreated and deemed unsafe, but the fountain has long been the only free water play option in the area, so it draws many families on hot summer days.
In 2014, the City introduced plans to install a sprayground, or interactive water play area, at Charles Young Park, just a few blocks away. But residents who lived near the park, located in downtown’s East End neighborhood, opposed the project. They had not been included in the decision and they expressed concern that the City would erase the history of Brig. Gen. Charles Young — West Point’s first Black graduate and a Kentucky native — in favor of a new playground and sprayground.
In the following years, the City reimagined its approach to engagement, prioritizing public life, relationships and building trust. They piloted smaller improvements and got the community, including local kids, meaningfully involved in a collaborative design process. And they partnered closely with Blue Grass Community Foundation and Knight Foundation, whose advocacy and fundraising efforts were crucial from the start.
The Lexington team utilized a number of strategies to bring the community into the process, including:
- Prototype and pilot: For two summers, a splash pad was piloted in the East End. Called SplashJAM, the prototype responded to community concerns while affirming a pent-up demand for free water play and high-quality public spaces.
- Co-create and co-steward: Recognizing kids as a key audience, the City team established the Colonel Club, a youth ambassador program comprised of students from a nearby elementary school. This process of co-creation resulted in a general plan for the playground and sprayground before the design team was even hired.
- Prioritize trust building, not transactions: Adult community members expressed a desire to preserve the park’s green open space as much as possible and to educate visitors about Charles Young and their neighborhood. In response, the City team partnered with neighbors, the Charles Young Center’s community advisory board and historic preservation staff on an iterative design process that built trust while making the proposed improvements tangible.
As a result, today Charles Young Park has a new playground co-created with the community, and in 2022 the City broke ground on Splash!, downtown Lexington’s first sprayground. Along the way, trust was built, minds were changed and residents began to see the City officials working on Splash! as partners in both improving their community for the future and honoring the stories of its past.
“Thanks to the open communication and relationships we built during this design process, the neighbors trust us enough to reach out and share ideas for programming or neighborhood improvements beyond the park’s boundary. People were always vocal in this area, but now when they bring us questions or ideas, they trust we’ll listen to them and collaborate with them.”
— Brandi Peacher, Director of Project Management for Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton
A framework for shared vision and action in Macon
Macon, Georgia, provides further inspiration and an entirely different approach to spurring civic engagement. The City developed the Macon Action Plan (MAP) to stimulate investment and activity in the downtown core and surrounding neighborhood. MAP is an ambitious reimagining of Macon’s urban core — and it features a process designed to ensure MAP doesn’t just sit on the shelf.
A key innovation of MAP is what the Macon team calls “democratized implementation.” This means Macon residents and community groups are active participants in planning, designing and building projects, and responsibility is dispersed among multiple organizations rather than centralized with the city government.
As a result, community groups have installed civic infrastructure like bike racks, bus stop benches and street lighting. Macon residents have worked together to turn a downtown median into a park, host film festivals and create murals. And philanthropic institutions are getting involved, supporting community-led programs to activate and connect Macon’s downtown.
“In Macon, our future is being driven by community input and engagement. I’m proud of how our city’s residents, businesses, community organizations, government and philanthropies came together to develop and activate the Macon Action Plan — our roadmap to a better Macon for all.”
— Lynn Murphey, Director for Knight Foundation’s Macon program
Find strategies for your city in our new guide
To support these positive impacts through public space, practitioners from planners to designers to community activists must approach their work with the outcome of civic engagement in mind. This often requires a paradigm shift in how communities plan, build and program their civic assets. It means seeing residents not only as consumers of civic assets but as active participants in creating and sustaining public space. And it means reimagining public processes to do more than gain feedback on project plans. Instead, practitioners should partner with communities in ways that nurture stewardship, advocacy and trust.
The strategies span from specific tactics, like prototyping temporary solutions and reconsidering the structure and goals of the public meeting, to broad strategic shifts about how cities should approach community engagement and envision the potential of their civic assets.
Our guide can support you in understanding the importance of civic engagement and selecting strategies that suit your project and community. Learn more by downloading Investing with Intention: Civic Engagement.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
