But museums are more than memorials. Two new museums—actually two new kinds of museums—featured in this issue show it is possible to regenerate parts of cities that face these postindustrial and other challenges. The V&A East Storehouse by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which puts on display the Victoria and Albert Museum’s vast collections in storage, is located in Stratford, East London, an area that had faced severe economic decline in the late 20th century before the 2012 Summer Olympics spurred growth and investment. In Rotterdam, a working-class port city, the Fenix Museum of Migration repurposes a rundown 1920s warehouse hub, now topped by a dramatic assemblage of serpentine steel, designed by Beijing-based MAD Architects.

But museums in the U.S. are under attack, following cuts to federal funding of these cultural institutions and the dismantling of agencies that help subsidize them. And, more recently, there have been the attempts by the administration to fire museum leaders. Yet, according to the American Alliance of Museums, U.S. museums provide 726,000 jobs, generate $50 billion in economic activity, and pay $12 billion in taxes—and, from the examples above and countless others, have the capacity to inject much-needed life into our urban centers. So, when you’re out and about this summer, visit museums and show your support. They still represent the cultural and symbolic legacy of America as it has been and is meant to be now.