Integrating cultural districts into the fabric of the urban landscape

It is readily apparent that most large cities in the United States are experiencing varying degrees of physical, economic, and/or demographic decline. As an unhealthy state of decay grows from within the inner core of the city, the phenomenon of suburban sprawl threatens to consume an ever dimensioning volume of our rural and semi-rural landscape.;What is needed is a program which possesses the leverage to not only integrate existing programs which are aimed at getting people back downtown, but which will also attract the attention of a broader audience.;According to the National Endowment for the Arts and major developers such as the Rouse Company as well as various urban design professionals, Cultural Districts have the potential to maintain or revitalize downtown as a people oriented center of growth and vitality.