Smart Growth America’s Culture and Community Network (CCN) worked with Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) across the country to experiment with and integrate arts and culture into their planning and engagement work. In practice, this might mean using creative methods such as theater-based tools, partnering with social practice artists, or gathering oral histories to deepen engagement, expand on who participates in planning, and connect lived experiences to policy decisions.

MPOs and regional planning agencies, sometimes housed in the same organization, play a pivotal but often behind-the-scenes role in shaping how communities grow. They are responsible for coordinating transportation and land use planning across cities, counties, and towns within a region and serving as conduits for federal funds, ideally helping decide where investments go, which projects move forward, and how policies align across jurisdictions. Their decisions affect everything from daily commutes to climate resilience, making them a critical point of influence for advancing equity and community-centered planning. Because MPOs set priorities that shape long-term investments, they are uniquely positioned to use arts and culture not just to improve engagement, but to reimagine how planning is done at a regional scale.

Our new case studies showcase both the promise and the challenges of this emerging field and how MPOs, with support from SGA, are learning from one another, testing new approaches, and finding creative ways to connect with their communities.

Read the case studies!

Each profile in this series offers a different vantage point on what it takes to bring arts and culture into regional planning. For example, PlanRVA, the MPO for the Richmond, Virginia, region, is just beginning its journey, with staff from nontraditional planning backgrounds experimenting with creative approaches to engagement. R1 Planning Council and Grand Valley Metropolitan Council also show how MPOs can begin integrating arts and culture into planning, even with limited experience or capacity. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), on the other hand, has been supporting arts and culture activities consistently for over ten years but faces the challenge of institutionalizing and sustainably funding its work. The profile of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission-Association of Bay Area Governments (MTC-ABAG), which serves the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California, explores the tension between ambitious equity-focused programs and organizational capacity. Other MPOs in the network are exploring ways to use art in placemaking, rethinking youth engagement, and building partnerships with cultural organizations.

Taken together, these stories reflect the breadth of the Culture and Community Network, from MPOs that are just getting started, to those seeking to refine and sustain established programs. These case studies are part of a larger effort: later this year, Smart Growth America will publish a Blueprint that compiles the approaches, lessons learned, and big takeaways from the Culture and Community Network. This resource is designed to help agency staff transform institutional norms and practices through creative, cultural approaches to equitable community engagement. The Blueprint will provide guidance for staff navigating barriers, seeking to shift culture from within and looking for catalysts for longer-term change.

These case studies and the Blueprint show the breadth of what’s possible: how creative approaches can spark new conversations, center underrepresented communities, and shift how planning is done. They also show the value of a national network where MPO staff can share ideas, compare challenges, and receive support from Smart Growth America as they take on this work. Whether you’re at an MPO and curious about arts and culture integration, an artist or cultural worker keen to be involved in regional planning, or a funder interested in supporting more equitable, creative community building, these stories and the forthcoming Blueprint offer a practical guide for what’s possible when arts and culture become part of planning and engagement at a regional scale.