Public Spaces
Making Privately Owned Public Spaces in New York City More Accessible by Mapping Them
A new map shows where privately owned public spaces are located to encourage more public use.
‘Social Infrastructure’ and the Interactions That Bond Us
Richard Florida talks with sociologist Eric Klinenberg about his new book and the places and organizations that help hold society together.
APA-Texas Acknowledges the Great Places of the Lone Star State
There are a lot of great places to celebrate in Texas, and the state chapter of the American Planning Association is in the second year of a program that calls attention to the role of planners in making them happen.
Apple Stores to Become 'Town Squares?'
James Vincent finds the claim that Apple stores are on their way to becoming "town squares" laughably pretentious.
Great Places: What Every Urban Enthusiast Should Know
Melissa Hege, AICP, shares her thoughts on what every urban enthusiast should know about good streets and great places.
What Would Delivery Robots Mean for Public Space?
If companies like Startship and Marble get their way, sidewalks will play host to hundreds of rolling delivery bots. It's one solution to "last-mile" logistics, but are pedestrians prepared to give way?
The Wisdom of Engaging Nervous Cyclists
It was clear to the City of Toronto that engaging less confident cyclists that make up 60% of the population, yet seldom come to community meetings, might be the key to dramatic mode shifts in the city. Here's how it happened.
Review: Seeing the City
Hoping to shake city folks out of our everyday stupor, Charles Wolfe has written a book on observing the city.
Gainesville Turns Abandoned Industrial Hub Into Innovative Park
Gainesville turns contaminated land into a contemporary public greenspace to serve as the city's “Central Park."
In Pictures: Havana's Public Spaces
The recent thaw in U.S. relations with Cuba, as well as President Obama's visit last month, have spurred conversations about Havana's future. Its public spaces are worn, but they're busy and well-designed.
Los Angeles to Redesign Its 'Worst Public Space'
Josh Stephens reports on the Pershing Square Renew Design Challenge, an effort to redo one of the "world's worst squares and plazas." The new Pershing Square may hearken back to the years before its misguided 1992 redesign.
Landscape Architecture Unites Impact and Design
In a field that seems divided between aesthetes and the activists, landscape architects may be closest to reconciling the two trends.
Street Harassment: An Issue for Planners?
Women and men experience public spaces differently. It is all too common for women to experience street harassment when in public spaces. Nina Flores explores the ways that this issue is being combatted in the online public realm.
Pavement Parks: a Better Parklet Alternative
Too often, street-side parklets become little more than semi-private patios for the businesses that sponsor them. Pavement parks, replacing dangerous intersections, may be a more worthwhile option.
One Developer's Appreciation of Landscape Architecture
A planner and developer waxes poetic, and keeps it pragmatic too, about the importance of landscape architecture.
Games Are for Kids (and Planners Too)
Minecraft has players across the globe busy building future cities. Cities recognize the potential of MineCraft as a tool for engaging the public in imagining the future of their city.
Making Public Spaces Actually Public
Developers get a lot of milage from building privately owned public spaces—but the public often doesn't. Planners in San Francisco are now requiring buildings to make hidden POPS known, so that the public can actually use them.
Op-Ed Criticizes Dog Owners' Use of Public Spaces in Chicago
A scathing op-ed by Joanne Cleaver provides a laundry list of public spaces and parks in Chicago spoiled, in her opinion, by heavy use from the canine companions of residents.
Women Bikers Ride to 'Take Back the Streets'
Even Andrews reports on the unsafe environment that women encounter while on their bikes—and the organizations and people who are working to make the roads safer from harassment.
Unsafe Streets: Report Finds Pervasive Harassment on U.S. Streets
A new report, the first of its kind, documents the pervasive harassment experienced by women, and many men, of all races, income levels, sexual orientations, and geographic locations. The report identifies the situation as an issue of human rights.
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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
