Placemaking

Cleveland, Ohio

Street Closure, Park Experiment Hits a Snag in Cleveland

In July, a local nonprofit closed down an entire street in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland for a placemaking experiment that had to be partially dismantled before the three-month duration of the program was complete.

August 14, 2019 - The Plain Dealer

Portland Food Carts

Ode to Third Places

Urban strategist Michele Reeves writes about the of third places importance in the urban fabric.

July 28, 2019 - UrbDeZine

mayor of South Bend

The First Mayor to Become President?

Pete Buttigieg, in his eighth and final year as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a formerly shrinking Rust Belt city, is on a roll in his bid to capture the Democratic nomination to challenge President Trump next year. The Indy Star looks at his record.

April 3, 2019 - The Indianapolis Star

Main Street

Main Street as a Microcosm of the World

How can a three-day design workshop make a difference? Be a strong local partner able to convene community. Rob Steuteville at CNU Public Square shares lessons learned.

March 24, 2019 - CNU Public Square

Italy

A Good Read for Planners and Peers: Why Old Places Matter

A recent book brings a common sense framework to historic preservation debates.

February 13, 2019 - Charles R. Wolfe

Plan Voisin

Op-Ed: Utopian Thinking Poses Continued Dangers for Urbanists

Charles Wolfe calls attention to similarities between contemporary urbanism and yesterday's debunked utopias. The two may differ in substance, but both tend toward a certain level of dogma that isn't necessarily helpful on the ground.

October 30, 2018 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

Seattle View

How Setting Makes a Place: A Seattle Retrospective

Chuck Wolfe reflects on his rapidly changing hometown, arguing that Seattle’s signature location and setting—however rearranged by the regrades of the past, Freeway Park, or a pending James Corner-led waterfront remake—remains for all to see.

August 7, 2018 - Crosscut

Bean06_Crop

Reexamining Notions of Placemaking

Surveying the public discussion for answers about how to make sense of placemaking.

January 15, 2018 - Arch Daily

Lancaster Central Market

Making the 'Case for Healthy Places'

The Project for Public Spaces recently released a new report titled "The Case for Healthy Places: Improving Health through Placemaking."

December 21, 2017 - Project For Public Spaces

8 Tips for Suburban Placemaking

Suburban areas looking to improve public places can try following this advice.

October 14, 2017 - Build a Better Burb

Aurora, Colorado

Aurora Rising

This rapidly diversifying community is one to watch as planning for cultural inclusion, social equity, and environmental sustainability become priorities for the American city.

August 14, 2017 - Dean Saitta

France

Beuvron-en-Auge: 15th Century Town Planning Stands the Test of Time

Another reason European placemaking has North American applications: it wasn't always perfect. Hazel Borys looks to simple town planning lessons from a village in Normandy.

May 31, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Campus Martius

Detroit Making its Streets 'Sticky'

The word "sticky" when applied to the urban design context has come to mean attractive and comfortable—the kind of place that makes people want to stay away and make return visits. Detroit is the latest city to experiment with the concept.

May 29, 2017 - Detroit Free Press

University of Denver

Has Placemaking Become Cliché?

There’s very little that differentiates proposals by four distinguished planning and design firms to better connect my university to its immediate neighborhood and the wider city. Why is that, and does it have to be that way?

May 15, 2017 - Dean Saitta

Is Placemaking a 'New Environmentalism'?

Like music, environmentalism's tenets evolved from precedent, and Kaid Benfield hopes they are evolving still.

April 28, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Placemaking: Geek Niche or the Root of Pretty Much Everything?

Placemaking: what does the term really mean? And how it can most effectively serve the needs of the most people. Scott Doyon shares some ideas.

March 1, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Little Free Library

Designing a Better Little Free Library

The care that goes into each Little Free Library makes each example special and unique. A little architectural expertise can't hurt either.

February 15, 2017 - Quartz

Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center

The Milwaukee Bucks Enter the Placemaking Business

Following the lead set by other franchises, professional sports teams are becoming real estate developers seeking to create vibrant places that attract commerce on non-game days.

January 30, 2017 - Modern Cities

Donald Trump

Bubble Burst Strategy No. 1: Do Something. Now.

Ben Brown on placemaking implications of today's politics

January 14, 2017 - PlaceShakers

Celebration Florida

Celebration, Florida: 20 Years Later

Disney's efforts to make a quaint American town both failed and succeeded in ways few could have predicted.

January 10, 2017 - The Economist

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.