Public Spaces

A spate of recent cyclist deaths on London's streets brings the conflict between road users into high relief. Sam Jacobs argues that "brute engineering" alone isn't enough to resolve the conflict, we need to utilize intelligence and creativity.

November 25, 2013 - Dezeen

Seeking to help improve the city's livability and boost its attraction to talented workers, the Miami Foundation has launched an open competition to identify, and ultimately build, neighborhood public spaces.

July 29, 2013 - Miami Herald

Over 20 years, the TKF Foundation has funded the creation of dozens of “green refuges from the stresses of modern life”. With $4.5 million in funding for six new projects, they’re out to prove the physical and psychological benefits of such spaces.

July 6, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Just a few decades ago, clients were discouraging designers from providing comfortable resting spots in NYC's parks. For a crop of new public spaces, designers are dreaming up fanciful park furniture that beckons people to stop and stay a while.

July 3, 2013 - The New York Times

As the virtual and physical worlds become more intertwined, the role of the traditional architect and the information architect become more closely aligned. Emily Badger explores the ways that each discipline can help the other design public spaces.

April 30, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Kaid Benfield delivers a photo essay full of holiday cheer that shows the suburbs aren't the only places that know how to accessorize for the season.

December 25, 2012 - NRDC Switchboard

Sue Illman thinks so. And in this editorial for The Guardian, she argues that the success of the High Line signifies a new era in which the quality of our parks and public spaces, rather than our skylines, makes our towns and cities stand out.

October 24, 2012 - The Guardian

Mackenzie Keast surveys the ten fundamental principles for placemaking identified by New York-based Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in their newly released handbook Placemaking and the Future of Cities.

September 20, 2012 - Urban Times

Jay Walljasper chronicles the decline of lively public spaces in the era of "rampant traffic, proliferating privatization, heightened security...and the internet," and human kind's existential need for protecting and expanding the public realm.

September 12, 2012 - On The Commons

The Economist looks at the improvements made to London's public spaces over the last decade, as the city's first elected mayors strove to improve the capital city's environs. So why has the city failed to keep up with its global competitors?

July 16, 2012 - The Economist

The Dirt looks at some new European public plazas that use interlocking paving materials with success.

July 7, 2012 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

The smart phones that keep us constantly connected to cyberspace may have detrimental effects on our public spaces, writes Emily Badger.

May 20, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Kaid Benfield laments the capital's "blah"-inspiring National Mall, and discusses three design competitions underway that could give it a second life.

April 20, 2012 - Switchboard

Eran Ben-Joseph pens an opinion piece in The New York Times calling for the transformation of the parking lot to capture its true value as a public space.

March 27, 2012 - The New York Times

Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg interviews Gwenaëlle Gobé, director of a new film called This Space Available, which seeks to document the rise of "visual pollution" and those who are fighting to stop it.

March 8, 2012 - The Atlantic

With federal funding throw at homeland security over the last decade, architects and urban designers found an opportunity to develop great public spaces that are enjoyable as well as secure, writes Carol Strickland.

December 15, 2011 - The Christian Science Monitor

Architect and planner Alexander Garvin takes a walk through New York City's public spaces, and says the city has been paying too much attention to new buildings and not enough on the public realm.

December 3, 2011 - The New York Times

Alyse Nelson says that when it comes to placemaking, sometimes all you need is some brightly-colored paint.

November 29, 2011 - SightlineDaily

Planetizen regular Chris Whitis features some stunning shots of several of the winners of our recent Top 100 Public Spaces crowdsourcing survey.

November 8, 2011 - Sitephocus

The results of our crowdsourcing project, in collaboration with the Project for Public Spaces, reveal not an objective Top 100 but instead a handful of communities passionate about their own local public spaces.

October 27, 2011 - Tim Halbur