Field Notes from the 11th International Public Markets Conference | Placemaking Round-Up

Posted August 5, 2023 - 17:13

This round-up 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.

Field Notes from the 11th International Public Markets Conference

During our recent 11th International Public Markets Conference, over 370 practitioners—including policymakers, market managers, and researchers—gathered together across Toronto's most exciting and inspiring markets to learn from each other and collectively strengthen our market systems.

To relive the memories or catch up on what you missed, explore our conference report and read our 4 key takeaways from the event.

Placemaking: Making it Happen

Join our next Placemaking: Making it Happen online training taking place September 5-21, 2023, to learn how to implement and manage placemaking projects. Register now through August 31—discounted group rates are available!

More Events & Opportunities

August 2, 1p ET • Register for Crowdfunding and Creative Placekeeping, a free webinar from ioby.

Job Opportunities • Main Street America is seeking two new colleagues to work alongside Project for Public Spaces and USDOT on their Thriving Communities Program:

Senior Manager ($75-$85k/year)
Associate Manager ($60-$65k/year based on 35-hours/week schedule)

Save the Date: How to Create Successful Markets October 24 - November 9, 2023. Registration opens in August.

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

Public Space News

A 15-Minute City for Friends. The 15-minute city is an increasingly popular concept that promotes urban design where a person's basic needs can be met locally within a 15-minute walk, bike, or public transit ride. Now advocates say that this concept can be enhanced by explicitly focusing on making it easier for people to see friends. For example, living closer to a friend could facilitate more regular gatherings as well as lead to spontaneous encounters. Sustaining social connections in this manner would go a long way to tackling the loneliness epidemic in the United States. (City Lab)

Unhoused During a Heat Wave. As the American Southwest experiences a record-breaking heatwave, the unhoused are among the most vulnerable to heat-related illness and death. For example, at an encampment at the border of California and Arizona, temperatures have gone up to as high 120 degrees and yet there are no public cooling centers where people can take refuge. As this extreme weather becomes the norm, policymakers will need to think about expanding access to indoor public spaces such as libraries and cooling centers. (Los Angeles Times)

Philly Needs its Public Pools Back. In Philadelphia, residents are expressing frustration at the uneven access to the city's public pools. Parents say that the pools offer kids and teens a healthy alternative to staying indoors in the summer. Meanwhile, the city reports that a nationwide lifeguard shortage and long-term repair needs are preventing much needed openings. To ease the problems, the city launched a campaign to both raise funds and encourage people to apply to work as a lifeguard. (New York Times)

Placemaking Playbook

Project for Public Spaces worked on the early stages of Buffalo's AKG Art Museum renovation, helping to create the program and amenities for the new public areas.

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

A renovation at Buffalo's AKG Art Museum opens up admission-free gathering spaces (City Lab)
A local park in Pennsylvania follows Project for Public Spaces' principles to increase sociability (Daily Local)
NYC's famed Astor Place cube sculpture—a "social object" that encourages a collective effort to turn—is back! (Curbed)
A New Orleans-based activist invites people on a "Roll with Me" via wheelchair to brainstorm ways of making streets more inclusive (Strong Towns)
90% of visitors to Montreal's 1.5 mile-open street Mont-Royal Avenue support this pedestrianization project (Planetizen)

From the Blog

Uses & Activities: How to Create Multi-Purpose Places
June 2, 2023 • by Katherine Peinhardt

How Toronto’s Public Markets Are Integrating Equity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation
April 27, 2023

Explore Three Emerging Market Trends at the 11th International Public Markets Conference
April 5, 2023