Editing Beautification (section)

{{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]], shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and other lighting and replacing broken [[pavement (roads)|pavement]], often with brick or other natural materials. Old-fashioned [[cobblestone]]s are sometimes used for crosswalks; they provide the additional benefit of slowing motorists.

Beautification projects are often undertaken by [[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]]s and potentially insurmountable obstacles for [[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]].

The [[Laurel Hill Association]] of [[Stockbridge, Massachusetts]], founded in 1853, is the oldest incorporated village beautification society in the [[United States]].<ref name=be>{{cite journal|first=Amy|last=Carr|title=Keeping the Town|journal=[[Berkshire Eagle]]|date=8 January 2009}}</ref> The [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] 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>