# Beautification

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautification
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{{Short description|Process of implementing aesthetic enhancements to a municipal or urban setting}}
{{for|the Catholic Church's process of declaring someone to be in heaven|Beatification}}

{{More citations needed|date=August 2024}}
'''Beautification''' is the process of making visual improvements to a town, city, or urban area. This most often involves [planting trees](/source/planting_trees), shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and other lighting and replacing broken [pavement](/source/pavement_(roads)), often with brick or other natural materials. Old-fashioned [cobblestone](/source/cobblestone)s are sometimes used for crosswalks; they provide the additional benefit of slowing motorists.

Beautification projects are often undertaken by [city council](/source/city_council)s to refurbish their downtown areas, in order to boost tourism or other commerce. Often, this is also spurred by broken sidewalks, which pose a safety hazard for [pedestrian](/source/pedestrian)s and potentially insurmountable obstacles for [wheelchair](/source/wheelchair) users. These projects are frequently part of other larger projects such as construction, especially in conjunction with ones for transit, such as streets and roads and [mass transit](/source/mass_transit).

The [Laurel Hill Association](/source/Laurel_Hill_Association) of [Stockbridge, Massachusetts](/source/Stockbridge%2C_Massachusetts), founded in 1853, is the oldest incorporated village beautification society in the [United States](/source/United_States).<ref name=be>{{cite journal|first=Amy|last=Carr|title=Keeping the Town|journal=[Berkshire Eagle](/source/Berkshire_Eagle)|date=8 January 2009}}</ref> The [Memphis](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee) City Beautiful Commission, the oldest city beautification project in the United States, was established in 1930.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cityofmemphis.org/framework.aspx?page=150 | title = Memphis City Beautiful Commission | publisher = City of Memphis | accessdate = 2008-05-30 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303150830/http://www.cityofmemphis.org/framework.aspx?page=150 | archivedate = 2008-03-03 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [Aesthetics](/source/Aesthetics)
** [Urban life](/source/aesthetics)
** [Landscape design](/source/aesthetics)
* [Beautification and conservation plant](/source/List_of_U.S._state_flowers)
* [City Beautiful movement](/source/City_Beautiful_movement)
* [The Ugly Indian](/source/The_Ugly_Indian)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Aesthetics}}

Category:Urban studies and planning terminology
Category:Aesthetic beauty

{{aesthetics-stub}}
{{planning-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Beautification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautification) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautification?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.