Announcing This Year’s Clarity Parks Project™ Grantees | Placemaking Weekly

Posted October 3, 2021 - 15:08

This newsletter from the Project for Public Spaces connects people who share a passion for public spaces to ideas and issues, news, quotes, places, and events from the placemaking movement.

Getting Kids Outside for Better Health with the Makers of Claritin®

Great news! We're expanding our partnership with the makers of Claritin® on the Clarity Parks Project™. Together, we'll be encouraging kids to spend more time outside by offering youth-focused programming and improving public spaces in three underserved communities across the United States. ‍‍

Today, we’re thrilled to present the three recipients of the grants: Win, the largest provider of shelter for homeless families in New York City, New York; Hawthorne Community Center in Indianapolis, Indiana; and San Antonio's Center City Development and Operations Department and 80/20 Foundation, which seek to transform an underpass near Historic Market Square. Read more.

More from the Blog

Flyover Park: Empowering the Next Generation of City Builders in Calgary
June 25, 2021 • by Ximena González

Social Alchemy: Jim Walker on Placemaking as Utopian Experiment
May 12, 2021 • by Jim Walker

Six Trends in Placemaking & Active Transportation from Walk/Bike/Places
May 6, 2021 • by Nate Storring

Events & Opportunities

October 5–October 7, 2021 • O pen Talks Superilla Barcelona, AfterCovid.City

November 4, 2021 • Call for Proposals: A National Initiative for Green Space, Health Equity, and Racial Justice, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Have an event or opportunity you would like to share? Email us at [email protected].

Public Space News

Percent for Place. Project for Public Spaces signed on to a letter calling for a small percentage of federal infrastructure funding to be dedicated to civic infrastructure. Reliable ongoing funding is a crucial and under-appreciated factor in successful placemaking, so we hope you'll join us. (Reimagining the Civic Commons)

Adaptations to Climate Change. A report from the Climate Impact Lab predicts that "the annual mortality rate at the end of this century could rise by 73 deaths per 100,000 people solely from excess heat." But cities vulnerable to the urban heat island effect can take action now by building green parking lots and planting more trees along sidewalks, among other strategies. (Bloomberg)

Making History in Public Space. The first-ever National Monument Audit, with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, researched almost 50,000 monuments in the United States for insight into the country's commemorative landscape. The report reveals that only 1% of the monuments reference slavery and recommends that we "engage in a holistic reckoning with monumental erasures and lies and move toward a monument landscape that acknowledges a fuller history of this country." (The Mellon Foundation)

The Mellon Foundation also recently announced its Humanities in Place initiative, which has dedicated $15 million to bringing more voices and experiences to public space. (The Mellon Foundation)

Inclusive Year-Round Public Spaces. 8 80 Cities and AARP launched two new guidebooks this week focused on creating more inclusive and healthy year-round public spaces, including projects and principles from Project for Public Spaces. Their new “Winter Placemaking Guide” offers creative "lighter, quicker, cheaper" ideas for any budget. (8 80 Cities)

Meanwhile, “Addressing Homelessness in Parks: An Inclusive Practices Guide” addresses the root causes of chronic homelessness and advocates for a park management approach that centers on human rights and housing, featuring our local partners at Woodruff Park in Atlanta, Georgia. (8 80 Cities)

Placemaking Playbook

As always, here's a roundup of placemaking projects and ideas that inspired us this week:

A NYC symposium explores ways of restoring the city including providing relief for street vendors (CityLab)

A violin-shaped float carries musicians through Venice's Grand Canal (New York Times)

A Philly-based electric bike program providing next-day delivery for small businesses serves as an alternative to Amazon (The Philadelphia Inquirer)