Weekly Placemaking Round-Up | May 15 - 21, 2017 - Project for Public Spaces

Posted May 22, 2017 - 08:05

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: May 15 - 21, 2017

The tragic crash in Times Square this week, in which one person was killed and twenty-two injured, was the area’s first pedestrian traffic fatality since 2003. Though the extensive redesign in Times Square over the last decade has dramatically calmed traffic and improved public safety, many believe the only real fix is to ban cars entirely.

Topics: Streets as Places
Partnering with Ghana ThinkTank—a coalition of artists from Ghana, Morocco, and Indonesia—residents of Detroit’s North End neighborhood plan to turn the area into a cultural hub with the “American Riad” project. In an area with a 23% unemployment rate and with 43% living below the poverty line, this idea will become the foundation of an inclusive arts colony that organizers hope will also be an economic engine

Topics: Arts-Based Placemaking
The built-out city of Barcelona announced plans for a massive re-greening program to combat the heat island and create a more welcoming place for humans and wildlife. The plan—which will double the number of trees in the city, increase park space by two thirds, and give each citizen an extra square meter of green areas—is a model of ingenuity and sustainable development.

Topics: Sustainability, Healthy Places
Based on an 18-month study on Philadephia’s emerging innovation district, a new report by the Bass Initiative on Innovation and Placemaking offers recommendations for the city to strengthen innovation, while improving equity and access. While specific to the Philly metro area, the report has significance for other U.S. cities that are increasingly seeing innovation districts, startup hubs, and similar initiatives as key to building a 21st-century economy.

Topics: Placemaking and Innovation

More Placemaking Stories & Ideas

New App Transports You through NYC’s Historic Cityscape with Archival Photos (ArchPaper)
Urban Planning Can’t Happen without Black People in the Room—Yet it Does (The Root)
Toward Car-Free Cities: The Inalienable Right to Park in Bogotá (TheCityFix)
8 Cool Ideas for U.S. Cities, Courtesy of the Dutch (Curbed)

Events and Opportunities

Job: Chief Operating Officer, Project for Public Spaces (Position open until filled)
Event: Collaborative Screening and Panel Discussion: "Citizen Jane: Battle for the City" (NYC's Ruth Sololof Theater, May 24, 2017)
Conference: EDRA48Madison (Madison, WI, May 31 - June 3, 2017)
Grant: Transportation for America's Cultural Corridor Consortium to support Creative Placemaking (Deadline: June 2, 2017)
Training: "How to Create Successful Markets," at PPS's office in NYC (June 2017)
Conference: Placemaking Week 2017 in Amsterdam (October 11-14, 2017)

Instagram of the Week

Barcelona, Spain
Some of the best kiosk designs are on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. 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 | May 15 - 21, 2017 - Project for Public Spaces