Preparing Places for the Holiday Season

More Events & Opportunities

Sep. 30 • Webinar: Don’t Just Tick the Box, Think Outside It: Reimagining Public Engagement in Parks and Public Spaces, Park People

Oct. 1 • Call for Proposals: EDRA52Detroit: Just Environments, Environmental Design Research Association

Oct. 4 • Call for Proposals: Real Place City Challenge, Real Play Coalition & PlacemakingX

Oct. 5 • Webinar: Open streets or equitable cities: Who will write urbanism’s next chapter? Park People

Oct. 9 • Call for Proposals: Winter Places: A Design Competition for Winter Placemaking, BenchCo

Oct. 31 • Survey: Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Farmers Markets, Farmers Market Coalition

Missed any of our past webinars on placemaking and public space? Watch the videos on our Events page.

Open Streets to Stay Open: Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City announced this week that the city's open streets and outdoor dining, which have become a major lifeline for the restaurant industry during the pandemic, will become "permanent and year-round" (Gothamist). 

Halloween Could Get Scary: Some cities are already warning that trick-or-treating could turn Halloween into a super spreader event, but communities are reluctant to cancel (CityLab).

Winter Mobility Matters, Too: To keep our public spaces accessible and comfortable this winter, cities also need to consider how to help people get from place to place by walking, biking, or rolling (Streetsblog).

A Pandemic without Public Space: What would it be like to live through the pandemic in a metropolis where most people do not have access to nearby public spaces? Hong Kong offers the answer (BBC).

Putting Down Roots: In her new book, Main Street: How a City’s Heart Connects Us All, Dr. Mindy Fullilove argues that affirming a commitment to your community can offer an antidote to displacement and the psychological effects of “root shock” (Next City).

Liability pliability: Why wasn't Uber charged in a fatal self-driving car crash? Authorities charged the vehicle's "safety driver" with criminal negligence, but not the company that developed the technology (Wired).

Remembering a Civil Rights Legend: After the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, how can we create a memorial that isn't terrible (Curbed)?

Here's a roundup of 10 inspiring placemaking ideas from the week:

1. Traffic lights with life-saving “heat vision” (StreetsBlog)
2. Two new reports from the Urban Land Institute on the value of enhancing and expanding parks (Urbanland)
3. Solar-powered street lights and public wifi that make a Detroit neighborhood more self-sufficient (Model D) 
4. A tour of neighborhood greenway improvements in Portland, OR (BikePortland)
5. A city-run recycling department store in Berlin, Germany (CityLab)
6. Pocket parks that double as sheltered bus stops in Detroit’s Northwest Goldberg neighborhood (Next City)
7. The overlooked history of segregation walls in the U.S. (Places Journal)
8. A program to improve disinvested parks without displacing nearby residents in Los Angeles (Shelterforce)
9. Five ways traditional economic development kills a sense of place (Proud Places)
10. The yurts, heat lamps, and other tactics that will save New York City restaurants this winter (New York Times)