Heritage preservation is a key component in developing liveable and creative cities by giving a community a distinct identity and fostering a place of belonging and inclusion (St. Catharines Heritage Report, 2006).
There is a network of heritage sites and designated areas throughout Niagara. A total of 1,293 cultural sites were recorded by the Regional Culture Committee in Phase I of their data gathering. These sites include cultural landscapes, heritage districts, designated heritage buildings, archaeological sites, sacred places and aboriginal sites that are often marked by provincial and national historic plaques.
Historical centers in Niagara of national and international significance have been identified as:
• Upper Canada and the War of 1812
• The Underground Railway
• Natural History
• Designation area as an internationally known biosphere
The history and international significance of the site of Niagara Falls, historical areas along the Niagara River maintained by the Niagara Parks Commission and the Welland Canal Heritage Corridor are of heritage and tourism importance to the Region of Niagara.
Creative cities are “dynamic locales of experimentation and innovation, where new ideas flourish and people from all walks of life come together to make their communities better places to live, work and play” (Bradford, 2004, p. 1). According to him, the creative city concept involves more than drawing artists to a place and investing in cultural organizations: it implies a holistic, creative thinking process that can be applied to a range of social, economic and environmental problems.
Source: Bradford, N. (2004). Creative Cities: Structured Policy Dialogue Backgrounder, p. 1. http://www.cprn.ca/en/doc.cfm?doc=1081
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