This essay looks at how America’s transportation and building infrastructure will shift and transform over the next 10–15 years, as well as the role that the arts may play in positively impacting those changes. In particular, this essay proposes the following trends and associated arts interventions:

• As resources become scarcer, and populations become more aware of their impacts, corresponding rises in technology will encourage infrastructure innovations that improve resource management. The arts will provide creative outlets for such energy management as tools for resource use mitigation, public awareness, and energy generation.
• Shifts in priorities for consumers, and rising costs of doing business, will drive a new interest in sustainable business practices at airports and other large-scale transportation facilities. The arts will provide innovative opportunities to pursue such sustainability; increase the quality of the core experience; and reduce costs, resource usage, and wear.
• As the country continues to transition to a customized economy, where consumers demand deep, personalized user experiences even in circumstances where utility was previously enough, one area that will be deeply impacted is mass transportation. Art interventions in stations and transportation modalities will help raise the quality of the end-user experience, while advances in design and other creative workforce applications will meld deeper engagement with efficient construction and design.

Excerpted from Arts & America: Arts, Culture, and the Future of America’s Communities. This essay looks at how America’s transportation and building infrastructure will shift and transform over the next 10–15 years, as well as the role that the arts may play in positively impacting those changes. The full book of essays can be purchased in Americans for the Arts online store.