The Knight Foundation asked: "What’s your best idea to make cities more successful?" When it came time to pick the best ideas, design and planning ideas for places like Wichita, Biloxi, and Akron emerged.
Audrey Wachs reports on the winners of the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge—the third occasion the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded $5 million to projects that enhance public spaces.
"This year, 19 of the 26 cities are represented in 33 winning proposals the Knight Foundation selected from 144 finalists, which were in turn picked from more than 4,500 applications," according to Wachs. Planetizen picked up news of last year's competition as well, which focused on the potential for such projects to be duplicated in other cities.
Wachs also takes a tour of the winners, with representatives from locations both far-flung and underrepresented in the national planning and design discussion. Links to each of the projects are included.
Sal Pizarro picked up the news about the two proposals from San Jose, California awarded in the 2017 awards.
The Knight Foundation focuses its place-based investment in the 26 cities where the Knight brothers once published newspapers, "particularly mindful of the relationship our founders had with Akron, where they started out, and Miami, where they based their business and foundation," according to the Knight Foundation website.
FULL STORY: Urban beaches, ‘visionary’ architects, ice skating paths among winners of 2017 Knight Cities Challenge
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