public space | PlaceMakers

Sort by Tag
public space

October 11, 2017 | 12:37 am

Civic Space: Creating Community

Public space, or as many urbanists refer to it, civic space, sets the stage for community building. The study of how we use public space has been refined by Jan Gehl over the last thirty years, since the publication of his Life Between Buildings in 1987. A couple of weeks ago, Gehl released his Public Life Data Protocol, in an attempt to establish a standard method for the global collection of data on how we inhabit our civic spaces. And help the rest of us become better urban observers. Continue Reading

Category Community DevelopmentLeave a CommentTags civic space, CNU 26, lessons from livable places, livability, Plazas, public space, Savannah Georgia, Susan Henderson

September 13, 2016 | 12:01 am

Triangular Plazas: Flexible, outdoor rooms with meaningful uses

Last year I enjoyed thinking of the critical components of a successful plaza: activity, locals, and a third place. Great plazas are hosts to community engagement any time of the day or evening, they attract both locals and tourists, and always have a third place fronting at least one edge of the outdoor room. A recent trip to France provided a study of the unusual triangular plaza, or place. These triangular French spaces reminded me of a very special New Mexican plaza of my home state. They all have a civic use anchoring the base of the space, a mixture of uses framing the space, and opportunity for meaningful, flexible community activity in the space itself.

Category Planning and Design3 CommentsTags Caen, lessons from livable places, New Mexico, outdoor room, Paris, Plazas, public space, Susan Henderson

May 17, 2016 | 11:42 am

Creative Placemaking: Lead, Follow AND Get Out of the Way

It seems everywhere I turn lately I stumble my way into a conversation on creative placemaking — people looking at the activation of public space as a way to further their personal and collective passions and pursuits.

It’s heartening. I’m a firm believer that our taking of emotional ownership over the spaces in between the stuff we build and buy pays critical dividends towards a lot of the things we purport to care about: community, our children, the environment, even various spiritual and religious callings many hold dear.

In short, public space is the world we share. And it’s better when it reflects the whole of who and what we are.

Category Community Development, Experience, Planning and Design, Public Engagement, Public Policy1 CommentTags activate, Creative Placemaking, public space, Scott Doyon

June 1, 2015 | 12:01 am

The Plaza: What is required for a community living room?

Recent trips to Spain and Germany have me appreciating the nuances of three plazas I had the pleasure of experiencing. Each plaza was a different character and scale from the other, which if I had to sum up simply, I’d call Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor: A City Plaza, Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt: A Civic Plaza, and Zafra’s Plaza Grande and Plaza Chica: Neighborhood Plazas. All share some common qualities, including being very active almost any time of day and in any weather, populated by what appear to be locals as well as visitors, and all have third places fronting at least one side of the plaza. But after that, the differences abound. It’s enjoyable to have the pause of vacation to study these spaces and think about what lessons we might bring home.

Category Planning and Design, Theory and Practice7 CommentsTags Berlin, form-based code, Gendarmenmarkt, lessons from livable places, outdoor room, Plaza Chica, Plaza Grande, Plaza Mayor, Plazas, public space, Salamanca, smartcode, Susan Henderson, Zafra

December 24, 2012 | 1:27 pm

Gathering Places: Providers of comfort and joy

To wish you the happiest of holidays, I’d like to share some recent thoughts about the importance of gathering places both in the public and private realm, particularly as it relates to children, solace, and song. In celebration of the season, those places — when well planned and cultivated — become particularly poignant.

Take private porches, for example. My son’s grades two and three Caroling Club trudged happily through a couple feet of snow this week, in our traditional neighborhood. Their goal? Just to sing and share some joy — no funds were raised, although the last house did produce hot coco and doughnut holes.

Category Community Development, Experience, Planning and Design1 CommentTags Canadian urbanism, children, gathering places, Hazel Borys, Holidays, livability, public space, walkability

March 15, 2012 | 12:01 am

(Public) Space: The final frontier

Having worked in communities big and small across the continent, we’ve had ample opportunity to test ideas and find approaches that work best. Urban design details. Outreach tactics. Implementation tricks. Many of these lessons are transferable, which is why we’ve created “Back of the Envelope,” a weekly feature where we jot ’em down for your consideration.