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Public Spaces in an Era of Climate Change
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If you’re wondering whether we’re making progress on climate change, it depends on who you ask. It’s been a year defined by both triumphs of community resilience as well as urgency prompted by broken climate records. But as much of the world looks for solutions to climate change, it’s easy to forget that one of the most immediate ways to address climate change is right in front of us: public spaces. To fight off the worst effects of climate change, we need to look to our parks and our streets for answers. (Remember, the first Earth Day celebration took place right here, on the streets of New York City!)
Check out our Earth Day post on the PPS blog, here!
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The arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks has raised questions of whether “third spaces”—places outside of work and home that are meant for meeting and socializing—are truly open to everyone. The international coffee chain has branded itself as a hangout spot for years, but this all-too-common incident begs the question of who, in fact, is welcome to hang out in these quasi-public spaces. ( NPR)
Parks in London routinely have more visitors and foster more activity than parks in the U.S. A new report attributes the success of European parks to their more adventurous, “risky” elements, as well as more open-ended design that caters to multiple age groups. ( Sidewalk Labs)
Topic: Parks
In the midst of an affordable housing crisis, L.A. is looking to its public spaces as places to deliver public services. Growing encampments of unhoused Angelenos have spurred activism around providing humane and accessible social services, some of which will now be housed in public parks and parking lots. ( NextCity)
New York’s most iconic park will soon have a lot less traffic—NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans for a car-free Central Park in its “loop drives” below 72nd Street. ( NY Daily News)
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More Placemaking Stories & Ideas
- Public Space Arms Race (Urban Omnibus)
- Florida’s Complete Streets Law Saved Thousands of Lives, and That Wasn’t Enough (StreetsBlog)
- As New Transit Startups Take Over Streets and Sidewalks, Cities Need to Step Up (Curbed)
- How the Fair Housing Act Failed Black Homeowners (CityLab)
- Restoring a Healthy Local Food Economy on the Gulf Coast (NextCity)
- Toward Car-Free Cities: 3 Reasons Why London’s Congestion Charge is Working (TheCityFix)
Place of the Week
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 Car-Free Earth Day on Broadway
New York, NY
This weekend, members of PPS staff attended the annual Car Free Earth Day celebration on Broadway, where we asked people: "What would you do here if the streets were car-free every day?" Check out more shots, and be sure to follow us on Instagram at @pps_placemaking!
Nominate a Great Public Space here! |
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Events & Opportunities
- Internship: Placemaking Project Intern, Project for Public Spaces (Deadline: May 1, 2018)
- Event: Crowdsourcing the City (Urban Innovation Centre, London, UK: April 24, 2018 + Interactive MasterClass with PPS on April 25, 2018)
- Job: New England Greenway Coordinator, East Coast Greenway Alliance (Deadline: April 30, 2018)
- Fellowship: 2018 Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) Fellowship for Change in Design (Deadline: May 1, 2018)
- Conference & CFP: 55th International Making Cities Livable (Ottawa, Canada: May 14-18, 2018)
- Grant: AARP 2018 Community Challenge (Deadline: May 16, 2018)
- Conference: CNU 26.Savannah, Congress for the New Urbanism (Savannah, GA: May 16-19, 2018)
- Side Event: "Placemaking Tools for New Urbanists by Project for Public Spaces" at CNU 26.Savannah (Savannah, GA: May 15, 2018)
- Conference: EDRA49, "Social Equity by Design" (Oklahoma City, OK: June 6-9, 2018)
- Conference/Festival: WeMakeThe.City (Amsterdam, NE: June 20-24, 2018)
- Conference: Walk/Bike/Places 2018 (New Orleans, LA: September 16-19, 2018)
- Conference: 10th International Public Markets Conference (London, UK: June 6-8, 2019)
Upcoming PPS Trainings & Events
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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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