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.
Project for Public Spaces Co-Executive Director Kelly Verel recently delivered the keynote speech at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2022 Placemaking in Small and Rural Communities Online Conference.
In this presentation, Kelly shares our nonprofit's insights, resources, and placemaking case studies including how an underutilized plaza in Portland, Maine took a Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper approach to bringing people together by hosting a group watch of a Red Sox game. The ingredients included a TV from someone's home and a food truck—something many communities can experiment with. Watch the presentation.
P.S. During this event, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a new Rural America Placemaking Toolkit.
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New Online Placemaking Training
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The first-ever online version of our long-running “Placemaking: Making it Happen” training! This October 2022, we’re gathering public space practitioners from around the world for an online training on placemaking tools and concepts. You'll learn everything from the core principles of transforming public places to tips for running community engagement sessions, and much more. Registration opens July 17th! Learn more.
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More Events & Opportunities
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Now through June 30 • Apply for the 2023-2025 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards, Levitt Foundation
Now through July 10 • Early bird pricing for the Park People Conference September 21-23, Park People
Have an event or opportunity you would like to share? Email us at [email protected].
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Activating Public Spaces through Markets. Last year, we launched our Market Cities Program to bring more attention to public markets and their myriad of benefits. If you are a placemaker looking to bring life to your downtown, adding a pop-up market can transform a space overnight. For more, listen to our Co-Executive Director Kelly Verel discuss the importance of markets for local communities. (PlaceHolder Podcast)
Barcelona's Summer-Time Climate Shelters. Forecasts of higher-than-normal temperatures this summer have led cities in central and souther Europe to develop ways to keep residents cool. Barcelona, for one, has designated a network of public climate shelters. These spaces are kept under 80 degrees Fahrenheit and provide access to water as well as areas to sit and rest, an idea that can be scaled to other cities. (Arch Daily)
Ottawa & the 15-Minute City. Canada's capital city of Ottawa is exploring the benefits and challenges of 15-minute neighborhoods. On one hand, the 15-minute city concept would help address a growing population and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On the other, advocates and city officials are realizing that the plan will have to be adapted to the suburbs with a focus on making them more walkable by creating more direct pedestrian and cycling paths between existing residential and commercial areas. (Ottawa Magazine)
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As always, here's a roundup of placemaking projects and ideas that inspired us this week:
- Chicago is turning schoolyards into climate-resilient green spaces (Next City)
- Georgia's Villa Rica is transforming its downtown alleyways into gathering places through art and programming (Axios)
- A local library in Missouri's St. Louis County is helping to lower the jail population by providing free legal support (Next City)
- Paris is outfitting some of its historic drinking fountains with a misting functionality to help keep passersby cool (CityLab)
- 11 of the must-listen-to podcasts for urbanists (Next City)
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