• With permanent pod parks and traveling beer gardens, Philadelphia pioneers new approaches to placemaking (Forbes)
• Making Black history matter in public space (Bass Center on Transformative Placemaking) 
• This Conservative City Built a $132 Million Park Using One Weird Trick (CityLab) 
• The Troubling Economics of Food Halls (Heated)
• The Help-Yourself City (99% Invisible)
• Why Greenway Parks Cause Greater Gentrification (CityLab)
• Can better parks fight climate change? (Curbed)
• How a Houston, Texas neighborhood center is using diversity to strengthen a neighborhood (Bass Center on Transformative Placemaking)
• Discovery Green Is Named One of America's Great Public Spaces (Houstonia) 
• Editorial: Informal economy, design problem (SunStar CEBU, Philippines)
• Why We Need to Dream Bigger than Bike Lanes (CityLab)
• Creating Economic Value Through the Civic Commons (Reimagining the Civic Commons)
• Flint fights lead poisoning with farmers markets and cooking classes (PBS)
• Special Placemaking Edition: Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal

“Placemaking means a place for all people to participate in the economy and in the American Dream. That’s what true placemaking is — it’s freeing ourselves up to remove invisible signs of racism and discrimination, and all the phobias and fears that people have. My vision then and my vision today remains to improve the quality of life for all people. The question is are we ready for it? Are we willing to go there?”

— Wanda Webster Stansbury, Executive Director,
Center for Child and Family Achievement

Kimberly Driggins will be starting her new role as Executive Director of the Washington Housing Conservancy this month. Previously, she was the Director of Strategic Planning in the City of Detroit's Planning and Development Department. She holds a MPP from University of Chicago and was a 2016 Loeb Fellow at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she explored the intersection of design, civic engagement and creative placemaking through the lens of equity and inclusion.

Benjamin (Benjie) de la Peña serves as Seattle's Department of Transportation (SDOT)'s Deputy Director for Policy, Planning, Mobility, and Right of Way. Under his guidance, SDOT produced Seattle’s New Mobility Playbook. Benjie thinks a lot about cities, systems, and design. He’s worked on urban issues that cover public life, engagement, technology, sustainable transportation, and informal systems. He received his MA in Urban Planning from Harvard University.