5 Days Left: Apply to Present at Placemaking Week 2024 | Placemaking Round-Up

This round-up from the Project for Public Spaces connects people who share a passion for public spaces to ideas and issues, news, quotes, places, and events from the placemaking movement.

Last Call: Apply to Present at Placemaking Week 2024

Imagine yourself speaking at the 4th International Placemaking Week in the historic port city of Baltimore next June 5-8, 2024.

Whether you're an expert or just extremely passionate about public spaces, we want to hear about your success stories and out-of-the-box ideas! Perhaps you have experience with open streets, food justice, or a larger project related to restoring waterfronts. Whatever lights you up about placemaking is sure to interest the conference's more than 500 attendees.

Submit a proposal to present now through Thursday, December 7th at 11:59p ET. Benefits include discounted registration and the opportunity to share your know-how with professionals from around the world.
 

Events & Opportunities

The 11th International Public Markets Conference took place in Toronto, Canada.
Now through January 25 • Project for Public Spaces is seeking a host for the 12th International Public Markets Conference. Submit a letter of interest.

December 7-10 • Attend Placemaking Weekend Miami, PlacemakingUS

December 12, 11a ET • Attend the free online webinar How to Take Back Our Streets and Lives, Cities for Everyone with Gil

Have an event or opportunity you would like to share? Email us at [email protected].
 

Public Space News

The Benefits of "Daylighting" Intersections. The journalist John Surico has written about the longest Open Street in NYC and connecting people to places for Project for Public Spaces. In his latest article, John turns his focus to "daylighting," the idea that better sightlines at intersections lead to safer crossings. This practice, which can range from painted curb extensions to bikeshare docks, has already led to a 14% decrease in collisions in San Francisco's Tenderloin where it has been implemented and can be a relatively cheap solution many cities can adopt. (CityLab)

How Public Spaces Help Communities Thrive. Setha Low, an anthropologist, at the CUNY Grad Center started research public spaces in 1978. For two of these years, she observed NYC's Jones Beach to understand how a public space could make many diverse groups of people feel welcome. Understanding that these methods might be too time intensive for many people to carry out, she has included a blueprint for how people can carry out their own public space ethnographies in low-efforts ways in her recent book Why Public Space Matters. (ArchDaily)

Manchester Offers Public "Warm Spaces." In an effort to protect their most vulnerable community members, Manchester, UK, is designating dozens of publicly accessible "warm spaces" for use by all. These spaces, a combination of public libraries and community centers, will offer warm drinks, free wi-fi, and supportive services. The City hopes this initiative will provide people with comforting gathering spaces and mitigate the effects of loneliness. (Yahoo News)
 

Placemaking Playbook

As always, here's a roundup of placemaking projects and ideas that inspired us this week:

  • A 2023 gift guide for the urbanist in your life (CityLab)
  • How Bainbridge Island Downtown Association is fostering an accessible Main Street (Main Street America)
  • Research shows living near greenery can have greater impact on health when tackled in combination with other neighborhood variables like legacies of discriminatory housing (Washington Post)
  • Alternative approaches to expanding public restrooms in NYC (Urban Omnibus)
  • 5 campaigns for addressing the loneliness epidemic (Social Life Project)

From the Blog

Comfort and Image: How to Create a Welcoming Place
November 17, 2023 • by Katherine Peinhardt


The Clarity Parks Project: Supporting Public Spaces for and by Young People
November 1, 2023

Access & Linkages: How to Connect People to Places
September 22, 2023 • by John Surico

 

Support the 4th International Placemaking Week

Previous conference sponsor Fermob was able to showcase their iconic Bistro Chairs to an international audience of over 600 public space leaders in Chattanooga, TN.
Good news! We're inviting institutions of all sizes to sponsor the 4th International Placemaking Week in Baltimore, June 5-8, 2024. This is a special opportunity to advance your organization's mission and form lasting connections with leaders in the field of public space. Benefits include free conference registrations, media mentions, and much more. Explore the sponsorship package.
 

P.S. Missed our last newsletter? This was our most popular read—enjoy!

Copyright © 2023 Project for Public Spaces, All rights reserved.

 

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