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Urban beautification
Urban Beautification is the act of making visual improvements to a town, city, or urban area. This most often includes improving the aesthetic through elements of design, color, and form, including landscaping, public art installations, street furniture, and architectural enhancements.

Urban Beautification projects are often undertaken by community members or city councils to refurbish their area in the hope of improving community morals, quality of life, pride, and relationships as well as attracting business and tourism. Often it is spurred by hazardous conditions like broken sidewalks which pose a safety hazard for pedestrians, but also may be spurred by a wish for improvement to the environment. These projects are frequently part of other larger projects such as construction, especially in conjunction with ones for transit, such as streets and roads. There are various amount of beautification organizations that partner with communities to assist in beautifying their areas.

History
Urban Beautification movements were first noticeably promoted from the 19th century until the Second World War. These movements not only affected capitals but also almost every large city and were manifested by the planning culture towards monumentalization and modernization of urban spaces. There is no single direct influence on why the urban beautification movement occurred, but rather it manifested itself through various different social, political, economic, and cultural circumstances at the time. More specifically the Americans, during the 19th century, intended to flourish their cities and towns through an extensive, organized urban planning called the City's Beautiful Movement. It recognized the importance of making an aesthetic, visually appealing urban space, to inspire civic pride and a sense of well-being among residents.

In the modern area, urban beautification gained prominence as cities faced challenges with the degradation of public spaces, urbanization, and pollution. This prominence is also used in a systematically calculating way to reimage and sell property.

Objectives
The primary objectives of urban beautification include:

1. Enhancing Aesthetic Appeal: Urban beautification seeks to enhance the general aesthetic of an urban area through elements of design color and form which come together to create a more visually pleasing environment.

2. Community Engagement: Beautification projects tend to include the collaboration of communities which ensures that the improvements reflect the identities of the community residents' beliefs, ideals, and identity.

3. Fostering Economic Development: Aesthetic appealing urban environments can attract tourism, businesses, and residents, which contributes to economic development and revitalization.

4. Creating a Sense of Place: Urban beautification aims to unify and distinguish a unique identity from an urban area, which fosters a sense of pride and belonging to its inhabitants.

5. Promoting Green Spaces: The addition of greenery, parks, and public gardens into urban areas, helps reduce the negative impacts that urbanization brings, such as air and noise pollution while providing safe and recreational spaces for residents.

Strategies and elements
Urban Beautification involves a variety of strategies and elements, Including,

1. Landscaping: Planting trees, shrubbery, flowers, and the maintenance of green spaces to promote air and noise quality while creating a more natural and inviting urban environment

2. Public Art: Adding sculptures, street art, murals, and other forms of public art enhance the artistic and cultural aspect of an urban area.

3. Street Furniture: Integrating visually pleasing street furniture such as lampposts, benches, and trash bins improves the overall functionality and visual appeal of an urban space.

4. Pedestrian-Friendly Design: Creating walkable neighborhoods with accessible and well-designed pedestrian zones, sidewalks and safe crossings encourages physical activity and social interaction.

5. Historic Preservation: Maintaining and restoring historical elements helps keep an urban area's cultural heritage and architectural diversity.

Chicago large lot program
The Large Lot Program was a Chicago neighborhood stabilization initiative to help property owners, block clubs, and non-profit groups purchase vacant lots for $1 per parcel. The vacant lots were known for unwanted behavior and undesirable environmental conditions by residents. Once bought, these lots could be used to expand yards of existing homes for, beautification, gardens, housing, and other usages as long as it was under residential zoning ordinances. four hundred and twenty-four vacant lots were collected by various owners, mostly using the property as an extension of their housing for gardening, green space, or a social area. More specifically, lot owners who focused on beautifying the lots did so by cleaning them up and making them environmentally desirable through three different beautification methods. The first view was to meet city standards by mowing the ground cover, eliminating hazards, and maintaining greenery. A second view was to landscape, planting flowers and ornamental shrubs to be enjoyed by residents. A third perspective was to plant fruit and vegetables to share with family and friends.

After a year, researchers would come and question residents surrounding the bought lots about the improvements in the urban environment after the lots were developed. A consistent narrative was that the transformed vacant lots that were once known for trouble were transformed into a friendlier neighborhood that respected one another more. Residents linked the beautification of the lots to a sense of place and unity both actualized and hopeful. Moreover, the new beautification motivated residents to improve and maintain the quality of their neighborhood.

Challenges and criticisms
While urban beautification projects are meant to improve residents' daily lives, research argues that beautification projects can lead to urban environments becoming more exclusive and make residents feel less willing to make use of these spaces. While design elements such as trees, lights, and benches at night made people more comfortable doing activities and chatting; huge buildings, large spaces, and wide streets caused residents to feel lost and insecure. In research conducted in the Alameda Central Park neighborhood of Mexico City, highlights an exclusion that residents experienced after a beautification project. After their area was improved, there was a notable decline in residents' activities, such as gatherings, music, and informal vendors. Instead, tourist activity was more prominent among the local people, with the law prioritizing tourism over local people's needs. In the Chenggyecheon-Eujiro area of Seoul, South Korea, a beautification project led to 50-year-old workshops being removed. In turn, residents felt threatened as historical and cultural values were being removed from their neighborhoods. While Urban beautification projects are generally good, they may face obstacles such as gentrification concerns, displacements of local communities, and the need for ongoing maintenance.