I remember seeing the footage, years ago, of the Stari Most—the “Old Bridge”—in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, being painstakingly rebuilt, stone by stone. It was more than an architectural project; it was an act of collective healing. A local saying from that time, as reported in a position paper by The World Bank and UNESCO, captured the feeling perfectly: “A person killed is one of us; the Bridge is all of us.” This single idea gets to the heart of a powerful and increasingly urgent concept: culture as infrastructure. It suggests that the systems that give a city its identity—its arts, heritage, and shared traditions—are as essential to its survival and well-being as its roads, power grids, and water lines.
The joint World Bank and UNESCO Culture in City Reconstruction and Recovery (CURE) Position Paper formalizes a long-held belief among community advocates: arts, culture, and heritage are essential for urban resilience, reconstruction, and recovery. This work, alongside a broader re-evaluation by urban planners and policymakers, highlights how cities have historically undervalued culture, often seeing it as a "nice-to-have" amenity rather than a fundamental asset. Evidence suggests the opposite: culture is crucial for cities facing compounding crises from climate change to social upheaval, proving a city’s soul is, in fact, part of its skeleton.
What is the 'Culture as Infrastructure' Concept?
The concept of 'culture as infrastructure' is a framework that redefines arts, heritage, and creativity as essential public assets, fundamental to a community's social, economic, and environmental health. Instead of viewing cultural elements as separate from a city's core functions, this model integrates them. It treats them as a vital system that provides foundational services, much like physical infrastructure. Think of it this way: if roads and bridges are the city's circulatory system, carrying people and goods, then cultural infrastructure is its nervous system, carrying meaning, memory, and connection.
This "nervous system" isn't just made of grand, historic buildings. It's a complex network of both tangible and intangible assets. It’s the local library that serves as a community hub, the annual street festival that strengthens neighborhood bonds, the public art that sparks conversation, and the oral histories that preserve a community's identity. These elements provide critical services: they foster social cohesion, drive local economies, support mental and public health, and give residents a shared sense of place and purpose. When a crisis hits—be it a natural disaster, an economic downturn, or a social fracture—this infrastructure is what helps hold a community together and provides a blueprint for how to rebuild in a way that is meaningful, not just functional.
