Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2011
Capstone Advisor
Anne Mosher
Honors Reader
Robert Wilson
Capstone Major
Geography
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Geography | Human Geography
Abstract
In this paper, I analyze recent economic and political trends by providing an in depth look at the National Heritage Area (NHA) program. By tracing their conception and origination back to the early 1980s, I attempt to place NHAs within the larger framework of deindustrialization and government cutbacks that were occurring at the time. Furthermore, I show how, with their emphasis on building social capital and creating cross-jurisdictional ties, NHAs were a natural response to emerging “new regionalist” ideals in America. By embracing the concept of regional partnerships to enhance economic competitiveness, NHAs signaled a new drive towards geographical thinking throughout much of the country.
After providing a quick survey of the existing academic literature, I take a closer look at the NHA program by making use of three case studies. In telling the stories of these three areas, I attempt to show why there has been such an increasing demand for NHA designation in recent years.
Finally, I show that, because of a lack of enforced standards, the NHA program has become susceptible to partisan forces, both locally and on Capitol Hill. Furthermore, I use testimony from National Park Service officials to show that the program is now in real danger of running out of funds. With such a flawed system of designation, I end by posing some critical questions for a program in need of a direction.
Ultimately, I conclude that, while these issues are troubling, the true significance of the NHA program comes from its reliance upon the idea of geographical place. By embracing the power of geography to drive economic competitiveness, NHAs are just one example of how spatial concerns have become increasingly important in today’s society.
Recommended Citation
Turiel, Jesse Solomon, "Imagining Place, Fighting for Space The Story of the National Heritage Area Movement" (2011). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 291.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/291
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
