This week, we kicked off Placemaking Week 2017 in Amsterdam! Representing participants from more than 46 countries, the conversation around public space was truly global. We enjoyed exploring Amsterdam and other nearby cities, and tackled topics ranging from innovation to the future of placemaking.

• New York City is, quite literally, leaving people at the curb. Wheelchair access across the city, from Subway stations to street corners, has degraded in recent years. Most of the curb ramps around the city do not meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the plan to fix this large-scale accessibility problem remains distant. Disability rights activists are pushing the city’s transportation commissioner to take action to make city streets safe for everyone.

• Some U.S. states are getting sicker. When comparing states’ performance on multiple health indicators including obesity and mental health, it’s clear that states with healthier built environments and accessible public spaces perform better. Social and preventive services, coupled with improved mass transit and public spaces, are clear wins for health.

  Topics: Active Transportation, Healthy Communities
   

• Jakarta is taking civic engagement into the digital age. Combining people power and participatory planning, Jakarta residents can now use apps or go online to report things like broken street lamps and track progress on municipal projects. Coupled with a series of public meetings called musrenbang, this new approach brings together digital and civic engagement for a powerful grassroots approach to broader city challenges.

  Topics: Digital Placemaking
   

• The Ride-Hailing Effect: More Cars, More Trips, More Miles (CityLab)

• Public Housing Residents Ask the Crowd to Fund Sustainability Projects (NextCity)

• In Pittsburgh, Transit Passes Come With Bike-Share Access at No Extra Charge (Streetsblog)

• Meeting: The Place Making Factor: Place, Philanthropy & Grant Making (London, UK, October 16, 2017)
• Conference: World Urban Parks European Congress 2017 (Wirral, UK, October 16-19, 2017)
• Conference: ACT Canada Sustainable Mobility Summit 2017 (Region of Peel, CAN, October 29-November 1, 2017)
• Conference: Placemaking LatinoAmérica (November 6-9, 2017)
• Conference: UN-Habitat World Urban Forum, Cities 2030 (Kuala Lumpur, February 7-13)

• Fellowship: Center for Urban Pedagogy Public Access Design Fellow (Application Deadline: Oct 23, 2017)