2003: the Year in Review Placemaking 2003: the Year in Review London Calling, Page 7

Placemaking 2003: the Year in Review Placemaking 2003: The Year in Review London calling, page 7

The Placemaking Movement 3 Defining the Movement 4 Developing Key Constituencies 5 Expanding the Movement 9

11 Bryant Park, NYC, page 8 The Debate over Design Working with Influential Partners 13 Putting Ideas into Action 14

Placemaking as Community Development 17 Local Economies and Local Food Systems 17 Connecting Technology and Place 19 Promoting Civic Engagement in Eastern Europe 20

Barcelona, page 12

Great Places Underway 23 World Class Institutions, World Class Public Spaces 23 The Return of the Civic Square 25

PPS Staff 27 Board of Directors 27 Partners and Communities 28 The Peninsula Corridor Plan, page 16

Cover: New Gyumri Festival and Placemaking EXPO in Gyumri, Armenia, page 23.

153 Waverly Place New York, NY 10014 PPS T (212) 620-5660 PROJECT for F (212) 620-3821 PUBLIC SPACES www.pps.org Local food systems, page 20 Placemaking: The Year in Review 3

2003 was a pivotal year for PPS spaces through community-driven design. —a year in which our placemaking approach Read on to learn about the growing place- was embraced by the cities where we making movement, the shift within design worked, the professionals we trained, and the professions to emphasize community places people we reached through our expanding over high-profile designs, and the ways place- online resources. making is contributing to community development. See how our projects are yielding

In 2003 our work had tangible impacts from results by creating livelier parks, safer streets, city streets to the hallways of academia, and and revitalized downtowns. we can feel the momentum growing stronger. We hope you find it enlightening, We wanted to share our accomplishments with you, and encourage you to take part in and that you'll join us in our the exciting effort to create great public efforts.

About Project for Public Spaces

Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS) has an international reputation for its work on the design and management of public spaces. A nonprofit, PPS was founded in 1975 to continue the pioneering work of writer-sociologist William H. Whyte. Through workshops, training, community planning, design review, research, and other activities, PPS promotes Placemaking, a process that helps empower and engage members of a community to participate in, understand and contribute to the evolution of the common spaces that define that community. PPS has helped over 1,000 communities all over the world. Public and private organizations, federal, state and municipal agencies; business improvement districts; the private sector; neighborhood associations, chambers of commerce and other civic groups have all worked with us to create a sense of place in their downtowns and neighborhoods. To find out more about PPS, go to www.pps.org or call us at (212) 620-5660.

Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, Oregon 4 Project for Public Spaces

Community-driven design in Littleton, New Hampshire.

We call our method "placemaking" to emphasize our belief that cities thrive on well-managed community places, not superficial designs. Placemaking: The Year in Review 5

The Placemaking Movement How PPS is growing the movement to improve public spaces through community-driven design

The placemaking movement was born over PPS was founded in 1975, we used their forty years ago, when pioneers like Jane ideas to develop a unique method to help Jacobs and William H. Whyte published their communities make better public spaces. We groundbreaking ideas about Americans and began calling this method "placemaking" to the urban experience. Back then there was emphasize our belief that cities thrive on well- no name for their way of thinking--they simply managed community places, not superficial showed us that cities should be designed for designs. This simple idea--combined with the people, with walkable streets, welcoming pub- work of our predecessors--seeded a movement lic spaces, and lively neighborhoods. When that is just now beginning to bloom in full.

Pioneers of the placemaking movement

The real heroes of placemaking can be These more renowned individuals - these dynamic personalities as they found in cities and towns across the Jane Jacobs, William H. Whyte, have helped to seed the larger place- US, working hard every day to improve Christopher Alexander, Roberta Brandes making movement. the public spaces in their communities. Gratz, Tony Hiss, Allan Jacobs, James While we would love to feature and Kunstler, Clare Cooper Marcus, Ray Our "Placemaker Profiles" feature is our award each one of them, for now we Oldenburg, and Enrique Penalosa -- effort to highlight some of these lead- are electing to profile some of the writ- have captured our imagination about ers and to bring together their valuable ers and leaders that have most the potential for creating great places stories, key insights and compelling inspired others to take on the struggle in every community. We at PPS have visions. Visit the PPS web site to of creating great places. been heavily influenced by several of browse their profiles. 6 Project for Public Spaces

Defining the Movement movement encompass a broad cross-section of professionals and laypeople: landscape archi-

Through our project work in cities and towns tects, traffic engineers, community development across the country, we've met hundreds of experts, government officials, and community community activists and civic officials that are activists, for starters. We know that they come dedicated to placemaking: they know that bet- from all over the world—six continents and 130 ter public spaces are the result of community- countries. In 2003 they viewed our website driven design, and PPS's message resonates over 11 million times (almost triple the 2002 deeply with them. They are the heart of the number), and they came away with resources— placemaking movement. like our place diagrams and image collection —to help them in their local placemaking efforts.

The movement also reaches beyond the places Here's a sample of what they are telling us: where PPS is currently working—people everywhere are applying the PPS placemaking "We are hoping that with your techniques, we can model to improve their public spaces. We know put the life back in our town parks." from the thousands of queries and emails we receive that the people who comprise the "I am heartened and energized by the work you are doing and look forward to learning all I can!" Placemaking: The Year in Review 7

Developing Key Architects, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Constituencies Federal Highway Administration, and the National Park Service are spurring entire pro- In 2003, we witnessed a three-fold increase fessions to consider the value of community in visits to our expanding website. As these places over project-driven designs. visits grew, we moved to complement our

online resources with presentations and events We are also bringing the movement to design targeted at influential constituencies. Our goal professionals through our training program, is to simultaneously build the movement which continued to grow in 2003. 120 people among grassroots supporters and show key attended our ASLA accredited "How to Turn a decision-makers why they should get on- Place Around" workshops in New York City board. Our presentations to leading national and London. The London workshop, co-host- bodies such as the American Institute of ed by The Prince's Foundation, was espe-

People everywhere are applying the PPS placemaking model to improve their public spaces.

Significant strides being made in the UK

You can't create great places without launched a Sustainable Communities Wales that is yet another key organiza- getting people involved from the bottom Plan that specifically targets the quality tion collaborating with groups at the up, but it certainly helps to have of public spaces as part of a holistic local level. At the invitation of the friends at the top. In the UK, people at effort to address housing needs and Prince's Foundation, PPS held a "How the highest levels of government have rural preservation, and CABE Space, to Turn a Place Around" workshop in demonstrated a strong desire to an agency established earlier this year, London last June. With 40 participants improve public spaces, and they have aims to "ensure that every person in from all over the UK, it showed how to recently delivered major results. England has easy access to well use a community-based approach to designed and well looked after public preserve historic sites and create high- At the local level, the Mayor of London space." density developments that fit with the implemented traffic congestion charges existing urban fabric. that have significantly reduced motor These agencies have set the tone for vehicle use in the central city. the work of non-governmental organiza- Nationally, the Office of the Deputy tions such as The Prince's Foundation, Prime Minister (ODPM) recently a charity established by the Prince of 8 Project for Public Spaces

cially significant since it gave us the opportu- was hosted by PPS and the Central Park nity to hone our partnerships with influential Conservancy with New York City Parks & British organizations that share our commit- Recreation and many other local and national ment to better public spaces. Our meetings partners, including the City Parks Alliance. with CABE Space, GreenSpace, and The The conference convened nonprofit leaders, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister were civic officials and community activists from proof positive that the placemaking movement over 12 countries to exchange ideas about is truly international in scope, with significant parks as catalysts of urban revitalization. With strides being made in the UK to make streets over 500 people from 100 cities converging that serve pedestrians and parks that function in New York, it was by far the best-attended as great community places. of the eight parks conferences we've organ- ized. "The overwhelming response to the con- Fittingly, our biggest 2003 event had an inter- ference shows that there are a significant national flavor as well. Great Parks/Great number of people all over the world who are Cities: Celebrating 150 Years of Central Park trying to create parks

Great Parks/Great Cities: Celebrating 150 Years of Central Park

Leaders from urban parks in over 100 ultimately economic vitality, in city "These conferences work because peo- cities and 12 countries converged in neighborhoods. Over time, advocates ple make connections they otherwise New York City from June 21 to 25 for have grown more sophisticated in their wouldn't have the opportunity to make," the international conference, "Great approach, using new tools and strate- said Kathy Madden. "When you see Parks/Great Cities: Celebrating 150 gies to make their case to the public. two strangers from completely different Years of Central Park." For example, a recent study conducted backgrounds sharing ideas, that's when by the nonprofit New Yorkers for Parks you know it's a success." The conference highlighted the emer- and the accounting firm Ernst & Young gence of a growing movement that is shows how investment in park restora- Our next Great Parks, Great Cities rapidly bringing parks and public tion and maintenance pays off through conference will be held in London, July spaces to national prominence. Park increased property values. The confer- 10-13, 2004 in partnership with advocates have long argued that ence helps disseminate these advances GreenSpace and the London Parks and actively used, well-maintained parks are to a national audience, maximizing the GreenSpace forum. key to improving the quality of life, and impact. The PPS Index Placemaking: The Year in Review 9 A quantitative look at 2003

Words and pictures can tell a lot of the story of 2003, but we at PPS are also fond of using hard that are catalysts for community revitalization," numbers to make our case. Here said PPS Vice President Kathy Madden. "Now are some of the figures that leaped out at us from the past all we have to do is translate that energy year. into tangible results." PPS presented in 11 Countries. With our professional outreach on the rise, 18 Countries participated in PPS training and conferences. we turned our attention to potential placemakers at the most formative time in their PPS presented or conducted project work in 31 states. careers--school. In 2003 we made a con- scious effort to present our ideas to more PPS added 11,000 images to the PPS image database. students and faculty than ever before. We were enthusiastically received at institutions 51% growth in PPS membership. such as Bowdoin College, Columbia 104% growth in recipients of University, the Harvard School of Design, Making Places. and New York University, to name a few. Approximately 11 million And by marketing publications like William H. pageviews received by pps.org. Whyte's Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, 1.7 million pageviews received by and PPS's own How to Turn a Place Around pps.org originated outside the US or Canada. to professors of architecture, planning, and other design disciplines, we're getting place- The most pageviews received in a single day was 96,406 (July 17.)

The most pageviews received in a single month was 1.5 million (November.)

170% growth in use of pps.org relative to 2002.

Fred Kent leads a tour of public spaces in New York City, including this stop at Bryant Park. 10 Project for Public Spaces

making on the curricula of influential institu- It's our way of counterbalancing a trend we tions. For example, a professor teaching grad- see in which designers who try to brand them- uate-level architecture in the Midwest has her selves create places that don't work. When stu- students use the observation forms in How to dents learn a different approach to creating Turn a Place Around to evaluate the public places that goes beyond high-profile design, spaces on campus and in the urban area they won't have to un-learn so much in order where the school is located. After analyzing to make good places in the real world. And the data and presenting it to the class, stu- that will make our job a lot easier. dents then use the Great Public Spaces nomination form on the PPS website (www.greatpublicspaces.org) to summarize their findings and submit a final presentation.

"Placemaking is the most important issue in urban design today as we try to undo the damage of the mall and car era."

April 2003 How to Turn a Place Around Workshop participant Placemaking: The Year in Review 11

Expanding the Movement We also expanded the movement in more informal ways with our first round of PPS

To grow a movement you need partners, and Socials. A PPS Social is a monthly gathering, in 2003 we found an ally in Scenic America, usually in a bar, where people come together a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC to talk about how they'd like to see the places dedicated to preserving public lands from inva- in their communities improved. We've organ- sive development and visual blight. The part- ized two in New York, and people in nership allows both organizations to reach a Providence, Minneapolis, Asheville, NC, and broader audience and cross-market each even South Africa have also held them. As other's resources. Our first joint venture we encourage future rounds of Socials in addressed the growing commercialization of more cities, we will promote the idea that any- public space with an issue paper illustrating one can have a say about their public spaces, ways people can reclaim their local parks and and anyone can join the placemaking move- community places from the encroachment of ment. private interests.

Some thoughts on commercial activity

Public spaces have always gone hand in ganza featured performances from end up with vendors, retailers, and hand with commerce. Markets, vendors, music industry luminaries such as events that better represent the sur- and retailers are essential components of Britney Spears and Aerosmith, not to rounding community. many a great place. But when does mention Jumbotron ads from corporate vibrant economic activity cross the line sponsors Coors and Reebok. Here are three key points about keep- and become crass commercialization? ing the public in public space: PPS has long recognized the revitaliz- Too often, it seems, commercial inter- ing effect of economic activity, but how Accessibility: Commercial activity must ests take advantage of our public can you separate healthy commerce not diminish the essentially public spaces at the expense of people who from harmful intrusion? The key is to nature of the place where it is staged regularly use them. Take the travesty identify activity that will strengthen the that unfolded on the National Mall in image and identity of a place. When Image: A good public space should August, "NFL Kickoff Live 2003 PPS develops recommendations to project a strong image that reflects the Presented by Pepsi Vanilla," which improve a place, one of the first ques- surrounding community used America's most iconic public tions we ask is which local businesses Participation: The best commercial space to promote a major product and institutions can contribute to the activity in public spaces is not a one- launch from Pepsi and the opening of place in question. When you bring way street -- users should feel like the new football season. The extrava- these partners into the process, you they're part of the action 12 Project for Public Spaces

Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain. One of the great streets in the world, in one of our greatest cities.

Parc Diagonal del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. "Barcelona's newer architecture and public spaces are severely compromised by a narrow focus on their "design" value – not their community value," noted Fred Kent in his 2003 City Commentary. Placemaking: The Year in Review 13

The Debate Over Design Design professions are catching on to the value of community places

How can design professionals contribute to Sparking the Debate better places? That was the question on

everyone's lips in 2003, as PPS promoted a With the introduction of our City dialogue among design professions about the Commentaries, we took a look at the way current state of public spaces. Our message global cities treat public spaces. By looking of community-driven design was picked up holistically at both positive and negative devel- by major trade publications and advanced opments in these cities, we tried to highlight through our partnerships with federal agencies, best practices for fellow placemakers, as well while our project work demonstrated the real- as uncover poor practices to avoid. Our world utility of our approach. examinations sparked a debate over the sup- posed benefits of high-profile developments such as Canary Wharf in London and Parc City commentaries

For over 30 years, we have been look- spaces are severely compromised by a rounding urban fabric. Fortunately, the ing at how people use cities, and how narrow focus on their "design" value - current administration in City Hall well cities and public spaces support not their community value. This discour- appears to be on the right track, and positive human activity. Our intentions aging trend is embodied by the new their actions more than outweigh the are to share the experiences we've Parc Diagonal del Mar, a large water- negative trends we saw. We were gained as seasoned observers of public front park that completely denies effec- encouraged by the city's aggressive environments all over the world, and to tive human use. We were told this agenda centered on urban regeneration, encourage discussion about the positive park was the future of Barcelona; if so, exemplified by the new congestion and negative trends taking hold in con- then Barcelona is in serious danger. charging system and City Hall's pledge temporary cities. In 2003 we completed to improve 100 public spaces in the commentaries on Barcelona and London, We encountered the ubiquitous trend of next five years. With the right kind of identifying both the opportunities and architecture as attraction in London as leadership, we think London can finally threats in each. well, and we condemned new develop- tap the potential of assets like the ments such as ABN Amro Headquarters, Thames riverfront. In Barcelona, we found that much of Canary Wharf, and the Tate Modern for the newer architecture and public their failure to integrate into the sur- 14 Project for Public Spaces

Diagonal del Mar in Barcelona, and encour- Public Spaces website and posed a question to aged decision makers to take advantage of his fellow landscape architects: untapped opportunities such as the Thames riverfront. "Is it a problem for this profession, reader, that low-key but successful places are often passed Meanwhile, visitors to our website continued over for kudos while high-image, people-unfriend- to flock to Great Public Spaces and the Hall ly projects garner all the professional laurels?" of Shame, where they passionately discussed why they love some places and loathe others In the next issue, PPS President Fred Kent —and nominated over 100 new places for us weighed in, challenging landscape architects and our web visitors to consider. to rise to the historical moment by serving the communities where they work and creat- In December, we saw the debate of "place vs. ing "functional places that sup- design" picked up in Landscape Architecture, port local values." where editor Bill Thompson reviewed the Great

Plan streets and roads with community needs in mind

Context-Sensitive Solutions (CSS) is the thousand traffic engineers in New A major part of the FHWA initiative is most important stage in the transition Jersey, New York, California, and a web-based CSS resource center that of transportation agencies from a mis- Wisconsin have benefited from PPS PPS is currently developing. Due to sion focus to a customer-service focus. training. launch by Fall 2004, the website will The central tenet of CSS is that com- enable the adoption of CSS practice by munities should not be molded to the The watershed moment came when the the broad transportation community— requirements of motor vehicle traffic Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) professionals, public officials, and alone--transportation should preserve identified CSS as one of its "Vital Few laypeople. Engineers who would like to the scenic, historic, and environmental Strategies." The FHWA's influence is use CSS techniques, but have not resources of the places it serves. crucial because it provides guidelines received formal training will find it for state DOTs and the funds to imple- essential. CSS is a natural fit for PPS's placement. Its goal is to establish CSS based approach. As state after state training programs and projects on the has adopted CSS, PPS has taken a ground in all 50 states by 2007, ensur- leading role in developing a standard ing that CSS will become deeply root- curriculum to train engineers how to ed in the transportation profession. apply CSS principles. To date, over a Placemaking: The Year in Review 15

Working with Influential Our place-based message was amplified thanks to the support of another federal Partners agency, the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages all the federal build- The past year saw the transportation profes- ings in the nation. PPS workshops developed sion seize the opportunity to emphasize com- ideas to improve Phillip Burton Plaza and UN munity places over project-driven designs. We Plaza in San Francisco, and in Salt Lake are very proud of our collaboration with the City, Buffalo, and Richland, WA we elicited Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), fresh ideas from local stakeholders for federal which is guiding transportation agencies to buildings that are in the planning stages. The adopt Context-Sensitive Solutions (CSS) and government is committed to realizing commu- plan streets and roads with community needs nity visions for its properties and the public in mind. The website we are creating with spaces around them, and with guidance from FHWA will help CSS become standard prac- PPS, they are doing it the right way. tice in all 50 states, meaning our streets and roads can again knit communities together rather than split them apart.

Local stakeholders and citizens gather to evaluate spaces in Redwood City, California. 16 Project for Public Spaces

Putting Ideas into Action Our work in California's San Mateo Peninsula resulted in a primer on how to turn transit

On the ground, we used our community-based stations into important community focal points. approach to tackle a diverse set of projects. We worked in partnership with local transit We worked with the Denver Children's agencies in seven towns on ways to create Hospital and the Seattle Art Museum to vital places around transit stations. Located examine how buildings can function as more along a rail corridor to San Francisco, the than institutions and become great places that towns face a housing shortage and height- serve the surrounding communities. In ened traffic congestion. PPS and our local Portland, OR, we worked with community partners developed plans to solve both prob- leaders on an ongoing project to make lems by adding housing and mixed-use devel- Pioneer Courthouse Square active year-round, opment to the downtown areas around the especially during the winter. And in Newark, transit stations. Communities along the penin- we partnered with the New Jersey sula would be knitted together by transforming Department of Transportation (NJDOT), the the historic El Camino Real—the region's City of Newark, and the engineering firm main traffic artery—from a six-lane highway to Edwards and Kelcey to develop a plan for a pedestrian-friendly boulevard. the public spaces of the downtown waterfront by connecting it to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

When a state highway meets downtown

El Camino Real, a traffic-dominated Samtran, and seven cities in San bump-outs, paved crossings at intersec- thoroughfare running parallel to the Mateo County—short- and long-term tions and at new mid-block crossings, CalTrain corridor along California's San opportunities were identified to reduce on-street parallel and angled parking, Mateo peninsula, bifurcates every the "pass-through effect" El Camino and larger areas for placement of bus downtown in the seven cities it passes Real currently causes. The collaboration amenities and passenger information. through, seriously eroding each city's focused on enlivening the downtowns Despite popular belief, transit systems livability with dangerous pedestrian around transit facilities, calming traffic, can be a vital asset rather than a lia- walkways, heightened congestion, and and creating design grades and rail bility. PPS is working to fully realize a lack of attractive destination points. facilities that support the participating their potential to knit communities In a unique collaborative effort—led by communities. Initial concept plans called together and set new standards for PPS and conducted with CalTrans, for wider sidewalks, bike lanes and regional livability. Placemaking: The Year in Review 17

On the other side of the country, in rural New How to Turn a Place Around workshop for Hampshire, we used traffic calming as a vehi- 123 people in collaboration with our local part- cle to create places and improve communities. ner, Lively Omaha. The workshop was the first The project highlighted the potential of step of an ambitious strategy to make better Context Sensitive Solutions to dramatically places throughout Omaha and spread the enliven small towns. Working in the town of placemaking process to every neighborhood in Littleton, PPS and the New Hampshire the city. Following the training workshop, Lively Department of Transportation (NHDOT) invit- Omaha "deputized" 22 volunteers to help ed representatives of other towns to attend groups of local residents conduct PPS's Place community workshops and learn how to con- Performance Evaluation Game (Place Game duct traffic calming experiments. Several low- for short) in specific places around the city. cost experiments—often as simple as a few So far the volunteers have led 23 of these well-placed traffic cones—were implemented in placemaking initiatives, working with community Littleton and showed residents how slower traf- and civic groups to show how the selected fic and improved pedestrian conditions could places can be improved. In stark contrast to begin to have a positive impact. Several near- the typical top-down mega-project, this bold ini- by towns conducted their own workshops and tiative has involved Omahans from the ground experiments after learning from the Littleton up, and their enthusiastic participation confirms model. that when you start with community and place—not design for design's sake—everything We saw the biggest ripple effect of 2003 take else follows. shape in Omaha, Nebraska, where PPS led a

Belmont, California conceptual rendering. 18 Project for Public Spaces

Market stall at East New York Farms in Brooklyn, New York. Placemaking: The Year in Review 19

Placemaking as Community Development How better public spaces boost local economies and improve civic engagement

Our case for placemaking as a path to com- ing places, economic engines, and sources of munity development advanced by leaps and food security. The first phase of our research bounds in 2003. Through ongoing research bore fruit in 2003, in the form of our report: and innovative international programs, we Public Markets as a Vehicle for Social Integration showed that placemaking empowers communi- and Upward Mobility. ties and strengthens local economies. Based on interviews with 671 customers and 157 vendors from eight markets, the findings Local Economies and show how public markets function as incubators for small businesses and training grounds Local Food Systems for independent entrepreneurs. The incredibly low start-up costs make it easy for vendors to In 2002, the Ford and Kellogg Foundations finance their new businesses, often doing so sponsored new PPS research into public mar- without the aid of lending institutions. And the kets and their multiple roles as social gather- spin-off benefits for nearby businesses are

New Rochelle, New York. 20 Project for Public Spaces

huge: sixty percent of market customers also and local food systems for the Kellogg visit neighborhood stores on market days. The Foundation. PPS studied three farmers mar- findings suggest that public markets could kets that focus on providing food security to move into the mainstream economic develop- the communities they serve. We found that ment agenda, with the full support of organi- community-based food systems advocates can zations with deep pockets like transit and successfully utilize markets as the centerpiece redevelopment authorities, health centers, edu- of the food system, with the market driving cational institutions, and federal agencies. PPS customer demand and catalyzing local produc- and other market development experts are tion. Our report, Public Markets and now expanding our partnerships with these Community-Based Food Systems, distilled the institutions and developing an economic reasons behind this success into concrete ele- impact study of public markets. ments that similar markets can learn from and repeat. As we investigated the social and economic benefits of markets, we simultaneously con- Contact Chris Heitmann ([email protected], ducted companion research on public markets 212-620-5660) for copies of these reports.

Public markets function as incubators for small businesses and training grounds for independent entrepreneurs.

Fondy Market, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Placemaking: The Year in Review 21

Connecting Technology tively as public spaces and as forces for positive social change at the community level. In and Place 2003, we supervised and provided technical assistance to seven CTCs, selected by the Public markets are not the only area where Ford Foundation, to participate in a strategic placemaking and community development planning grant program to take the centers intersect. Community Technology Centers, past their technology programs to take on or CTCs—the lone survivors of the "communi- broader community agendas, with specific ty technology" movement—are currently strug- emphasis on funding and partnerships that gling to survive in low-income communities would broaden both their mission and tradi- where access to technology is scarce. They tional sources of funds. The key to this effort are important not only for their work to span is a strategic analysis of the CTC as an the digital divide, but also because they have effective community place. The strategic plans, the potential to act as key public spaces in which were completed in December, 2003, areas where such places are scarce. are now being reviewed for implementation grants by the Ford Foundation. In 2002, PPS partnered with the New School for Social Research and BCT Partners, with funding from the Ford Foundation, to research how CTCs can function more effec-

Community Technology Center, New York City. 22 Project for Public Spaces

Promoting Civic few lucky Americans were able to see these innovations first-hand on our Great Places Engagement in Eastern Hike and Bike Ride, a low-cost, high-energy journey through the greenways and villages of Europe the Czech Republic. Participants saw up close and personal how the preservation of historic Looking abroad, the success of our interna- places boosted tourism and improved local tional program spurred interest in placemaking economies. from cities that are transitioning to democracy and free markets. Many of these cities face In 2003 we introduced our methods to a immense pressure to develop US-style high- whole new slate of countries in the region, ways and shopping centers, but the introduc- including Poland (Cracow), Hungary tion of placemaking skills is helping local (Budapest), Croatia (Zagreb, Rijeka, Pula), organizations learn viable alternatives that pre- and Serbia (Belgrade). Placemaking is an serve and improve their historic places. ideal tool to develop a culture of civic PPS has long had a presence in the Czech engagement in these countries, where Republic, where we collaborated with the Western-style development now threatens to Czech Environmental Partnership to pre- overwhelm places that are worth preserving, serve historic towns from reckless develop- and skepticism towards public participation ment and actively involve citizens in the cre- prevails due to decades of heavy-handed ation and management of their streets, parks, Communist rule. squares, and other public spaces. Last year a

Community Youth workshop, Rijeka, Croatia. Placemaking: The Year in Review 23

A powerful example comes from Gyumri, part in various activities: enjoying a cup of Armenia, where PPS led a community work- coffee or beer in one of the cafes, watching shop to reinvigorate the town's central squares. performances on a large outdoor stage, or The result of that workshop was the New shopping in an open air market. Thirty-five Gyumri Festival and Placemaking Expo, thousand people attended during the full three which took place in the town's Freedom days, extraordinary considering that Gyumri Square and All Savior's Square the weekend has a population of only 150,000. Observers of September 26-28. The legacy of the Soviet from 18 other Armenian cities attended the era and a devastating 1988 earthquake com- event and planned to use the placemaking bined to leave these two squares almost com- approach and methodology to help revitalize pletely lifeless, but on the first day of the fes- their own public spaces. tival, they were mobbed with people taking

Placemaking is an ideal tool to develop a culture of civic engagement in countries where Western-style development now threatens to overwhelm places.

Main square in Gyumri, Armenia (before.) New Gyumri Festival and Placemaking EXPO (after.) 24 Project for Public Spaces

Logan Circle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Placemaking: The Year in Review 25

Great Places Underway PPS projects make the transition from vision to reality

The most rewarding part of what we do report. Situated in the heart of the University comes when the communities we work with Circle district, Wade Oval is surrounded by realize their visions and make great places world class cultural institutions, such as the come to life. In 2003 we saw some of these Cleveland Museum of Art and the Western visions come to fruition, and others made sig- Reserve Historical Society, and PPS was nificant progress on the path to being com- hired to help make the Oval a public space pleted. worthy of these institutions. PPS led an intensive planning process that brought the surrounding institutions and residents of neighbor- World Class Institutions, ing communities together to improve the Oval. "The vision that came out of our workshop World Class Public Spaces with stakeholders was very compelling," said PPS Vice-President Kathy Madden. "Wade On October 10th, Cleveland's Wade Oval cel- Oval is seen as the central place that serves ebrated the completion of improvements that as an active and welcoming front door to the PPS recommended in our February 2002 cultural heart of University Circle."

Ilaria Salvadori creates a vision map during a community meeting. 26 Project for Public Spaces

When the construction fences came down at Surrounded by numerous nationally acclaimed the re-dedication in October 2003, they public institutions, Philadelphia's Logan revealed new walkways, pathway lighting, Square faced a similar problem to Wade benches, lampposts, drinking fountains, and a Oval. Multiple museums, an art college, a performance stage that blends in with the sur- library, a beautiful cathedral, a four star hotel rounding landscape. In addition, neighbor and a courthouse are all directly adjacent to Case Western Reserve University began sup- the Square, but heavy traffic and unsafe plying free wireless internet service in the pedestrian conditions hampered its quality as park. The cultural spirit of the new Wade a public space. Last year, PPS and the Oval was apparent in the re-dedication cere- Center City District worked with local resi- mony itself, which featured music and per- dents, businesses, and institutions to develop formances by several of the surrounding insti- a vision for Logan Square as a world-class tutions, ending with a community concert pre- civic space. sented by University Circle Inc. and Case Western Reserve University. The next step is Now, a $1.5 million grant from the William to implement a plan for programming and Penn Foundation and a $3 million grant from events that will make Wade Oval a destina- the Pew Charitable Trust are enabling tion unto itself. improvements to move forward. New pedestri-

Wade Oval concept plan, Cleveland, Ohio. Placemaking: The Year in Review 27

an lighting will be installed to complement the mencement ceremonies that are normally held Square's renowned Swann Fountain sculpture in the cathedral. With so many world-class and the facades of surrounding buildings; institutions committed to improving Logan additional traffic signals and islands will Square, its future looks bright. improve pedestrian safety and access to the Square. A separate $948,000 Transportation Enhancement grant may soon follow, which The Return would pay for re-landscaping of the Square's green spaces. of the Civic Square

All over the world, we're seeing the return of With the safety and accessibility improvements civic squares that act as centers of communi- on the horizon, neighboring institutions are ty life. One of the most striking examples is eager to give people more reasons to visit taking shape in Detroit, where PPS led the the Square. Early programmatic ideas have visioning process for Campus Martius Park, ranged from outdoor fashion shows courtesy a new public space in the heart of downtown of the art college, to parochial school com-

PPS led an intensive planning process that brought the surrounding institutions and residents of neighboring communities together to improve the Oval.

Wade Oval, Cleveland, Ohio. 28 Project for Public Spaces

that began construction in May 2003. Located The surrounding area is undergoing a major in Detroit's historic center, at the intersection revitalization, with new retail space, new cor- of five major streets, Campus Martius Park is porate headquarters fronting the park, and the anchor of a downtown revitalization swaths of nearby historic buildings being con- intended to bring in new businesses, housing, verted to residential use. The new park will and street activity. be the engine driving these developments. "We're dubbing it Detroit's Town Square," said The initiative for Campus Martius Park came Robert Gregory, Executive Director of Detroit from the Mayor's Office and the Detroit 300 300. "It's meant to be a major economic cat- Conservancy, who brought in PPS to engage alyst for revitalizing downtown." local stakeholders. The result was a vision for Campus Martius as one of the world's best Campus Martius Park is slated for completion public spaces—with multiple destinations, inno- in late 2004. We expect the finished place to vative programming, pedestrian accessibility, set the standard for new civic squares, and and strong connections to transit and sur- we hope other cities will look and learn from rounding neighborhoods. When completed, Detroit's example. Campus Martius Park will be a major destination for residents, office workers, and tourists alike.

Campus Martius conceptual plan. Placemaking: The Year in Review 29

PPS Staff 2003 Board of Directors

Fred Kent, President Fred Kent, Board President and Chair, President,

Steve Davies, Vice President Project for Public Spaces

Kathy Madden, Vice President Joel Schiavone, Board Treasurer,

The Schiavone Corporation

David Burwell, Director of Transportation Roberta Brandes Gratz, Board Secretary,

Programs & Strategic Management Author/Journalist

Toni Gold, Senior Associate Ricardo Byrd, Executive Director,

Philip Myrick, Assistant Vice President National Association of Neighborhoods

Cynthia Nikitin, Assistant Vice President Dana Crawford, President, Urban Neighborhoods, Inc.

Elena Olonetsky, Assistant Vice President, Douglas Durst, President, The Durst Organization

Finance & Office Management Paul Elston, Chairman,

David O'Neil, Senior Associate, Public Markets New York League of Conservation Voters

Shin-pei Tsay, Director of Marketing Daniel M. Fox, President, Milbank Memorial Fund

Meg Walker, Director of Design Tony Goldman, Chairman and CEO,

Andy Wiley-Schwartz, Assistant Vice President Goldman Properties

Donald Jacob, Executive Director, The Neuropathy

Ayan Ali, Administrative Assistant Association

Carly Clark, Graphic Design David McCune, Writer/Consultant

Ben Fried, Program Associate, Don Miles, Associate Partner,

Marketing & Outreach Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership

Nick Grossman, Project Assistant Robert Peck, President,

Chris Heitmann, Project Manager The Greater Washington Board of Trade

Ethan Kent, Project Manager Jonathan Rose, President, Affordable Housing

Josh Kent, Project Assistant and PPS Webmaster Development Corporation

Elena Madison, Project Manager William Sharman, Chairman of the Board and Chief

Marcos Martinez, Office Manager Executive Officer, Lancaster Hotels and Resorts

Katie Salay, Development Associate Richard Swett, former Ambassador to Denmark

Ilaria Salvadori, Project Manager Jennifer Vickers, President,

Jande Wintrob, Project Manager Community Investment Corporation

Michael Whiteman, President,

The Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. 30 Project for Public Spaces

Partners The Urban Institute Meredith, NH Town of Littleton, NH Minneapolis, MN 34th Street Partnership Transportation Research Board Mobile, Alabama AASHTO University of the Arts Morningside Park, New York City Abeles Philips Preiss Urban Neighborhoods Nashville, TN Academy for Educational US DOT Volpe Center Newark, NJ Development USDA Forest Service Oakland, CA America Walks Via Partnership Omaha, NE American Public Transport Wilmington Renaissance Pittsburgh, PA Arvada Corporation Portland, OR Bowdoin College Poughkeepsie, NY Caltrans Communities we worked in: Redwood City, CA Central Park Conservancy Richland, WA Roxbury, MA The Children's Hospital, Denver 34th Street, New York City Salt Lake City, UT City Parks Alliance Allen Street, New York City San Antonio, TX Corbin Design Arvada, CO San Bruno, CA Detroit Eastern Market Baisley Pond, New York City San Carlos, CA Downtown Greensboro Baltimore, MD San Francisco, CA Edwards and Kelsey Belmont, CA Santa Monica, CA General Services Administration Berlin, NH Somerville, MA HNTB Brunswick, ME South Lake Tahoe, CA James W Brooks Berlin, NH South San Francisco, CA Local Government Commission Boston, MA Tamworth, NH Local Initiatives Support Budapest, Hungary Washington, DC Corporation Buffalo, NY Wilmington, DE Maine Olmsted Alliance Chocorua, NH Mystic View Task Force Colma, CA Nashville Downtown Croatia Foundations National Association for Olmsted Daly City, CA Parks Danville, CA American Conservation Association National Park Service Denver, CO Ford Foundation Neighborhood Reinvestment Detroit, MI Kellogg Foundation New Jersey DOT Dover, NH McKnight Foundation New Jersey Transit Gorham, NH The New York Community Trust Neighborhood Reinvestment Greensboro, SC Penn Foundation Partnership for Parks Gyurmi, Armenia Rockefeller Brothers Fund Parsons Brinckerhoff Hoboken, NJ Schumann Fund Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. Holland, MI Surdna Foundation Prince's Foundation Houston, TX Reed College Jamaica, Queens, New York City Resource Management Johnson Hill, WI SamTrans Krakow, Poland Wisconsin DOT Littleton, NH Southern Environmental Center London, UK Talentis Development Corp. Los Angeles, CA Tech Corps Texas Madison, NJ 1. DOWNLOAD place diagrams and other Placemaking tools 2. NOMINATE your favorite Great Public Space

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