Tanguy and Norman treat the visual public realm as civic infrastructure rather than decorative surplus. Their central claim is that urban images, public art, advertising and visual narratives participate in the production of citizenship because they shape whose values, identities and aspirations become publicly visible. The report contrasts commercially saturated environments with forms of community-led visual production and advances regulation, reinvestment and participation as mechanisms for reclaiming civic space. Methodologically, it combines case-based analysis, policy recommendations and cross-sector knowledge from artists, councils, developers and community actors, making public visibility a field of governance rather than taste alone. The wider contribution lies in connecting cultural policy, public-space studies and prosperity research: the city’s visual surface becomes a distributive system through which attention, representation and belonging are allocated. Public art consequently acquires infrastructural force when it creates conversation, local recognition and durable civic capacity rather than functioning as isolated aesthetic enhancement.
URBANISM MEETS ART