Weekly Placemaking Round-Up | April 24 - 30, 2017 - Project for Public Spaces

Posted May 1, 2017 - 03:37

Here is the latest issue this new weekly roundup of news, ideas, opportunities, and more - a curated list of content for placemakers by placemakers - from the Project for Public Spaces.

This Week's Highlights: April 24 - 30, 2017

After reports last week that the Thai government—in their quest to “clean up” Bangkok’s streets—planned to crack down on the city’s treasured food vendors, there has been much debate on urban development strategies, informal street life, and the tricky cross-class dynamics of regulating public space.

Topics: Market Cities, Streets as Places
In response to Richard Florida’s The New Urban Crisis, Amy Liu of the Brookings Institution argues that cities alone cannot fix today’s complex urban challenges. Rather, we must embrace regional and cross-cutting strategies to address the deep income, race, and neighborhood divides in this country. Liu offers four examples of silo-busting initiatives and local leaders who are showing how it’s done.

Topics: Place Governance
A new study of commuters in the UK shows that people who bike to work tend to live longer and are at lower risk of heart disease and cancer. Researchers conclude that investments in bike-share, bike lanes, and other forms of cycling infrastructure “present major opportunities for the improvement of public health.” (May is National Bike Month, so saddle up!)

Topics: Healthy Places, S treets as Places
In her keynote at the AIA 2017 conference, former first lady Michelle Obama urges architects to consider more community projects in lower-income city districts."Yes there are the projects that happen downtown—that important building, that important park,” she says. “But there's also those community centers, those parks and district facilities, the homes, the opportunities that you have to make a neighborhood beautiful for a family or a child that feels like no one cares.” Preach, Michelle.

Topics: Urban Equity, Architecture of Place

More Placemaking Stories & Ideas

Why Urbanists Need to Talk about Amazon (StrongTowns)
Cities Must Stop Underestimating Their Need and Ability to Respond to Migration (Citiscope)
A Day in the Life of a Food Vendor (New York Times)
Confronting Urban Design’s Diversity Crisis with a Return to Black Places (NextCity)

Events and Opportunities

Job: Chief Operating Officer, Project for Public Spaces (Position open until filled)
Job: Project Reporter and Communications Associate, Project for Public Spaces (Deadline: May 15, 2017)
Event: “Vital Little Plans” discussion at Museum of the City of New York (May 2, 2017 *Use code PLANS1 for ticket discount)
Symposium: “Making Sense of Place: Place Theory and Placemaking in Practice” at Pratt Institute (May 13, 2017)
RFP: Design Trust for Public Space's “Public for All: Rethinking Shared Space in NYC” (Deadline: Registration, June 6, 2017; Submission, June 20, 2017)
Conference: Placemaking Week 2017 in Amsterdam (October 11-14, 2017)

Instagram of the Week

Munich, Germany
Gateway to the city's historic center. Be sure to check out Fred Kent's Instagram shots at pps_placemaking.

Have something to share? Please send your placemaking stories, news, job openings, grants, awards, calls for proposals, and events to [email protected] today. We'll be sure to give you a tip of the hat.

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Weekly Placemaking Round-Up | April 24 - 30, 2017 - Project for Public Spaces