Placemaking

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

Denver

Cultural Policy in the Mile High City

Ginger White Brunetti, deputy director of Denver Arts & Venues, discusses cultural policy in the Colorado capital.

December 15, 2016 - Soft City

How To Turn a Contaminated Parking Lot Into a World-Class Public Space

Tulsa's Guthrie Green proves Tulsa, Oklahoma isn't just known for parking craters any longer.

December 12, 2016 - Modern Cities

Nashville

Tactical Urbanism Reshaping Nashville's Broadway Ave

Nasvhille's embrace of temporary urban interventions is producing amazing results that are capturing the imagination of both locals and tourists alike.

November 1, 2016 - Modern Cities

Vancouver Chuck Wolfe

A Twitter Feed that Sings About Placemaking

"My twitter stream is alive with the sound of placemaking," writes Chuck Wolfe. While preparing for this week's Placemaking Week in Vancouver, he explains the importance of PPS-led programming and hopes for various panels, proceedings and events.

September 12, 2016 - The Huffington Post

Connecting the Dots Between Governance and Placemaking

Seattle's beloved Pike Place offers a case study in how careful governance builds the foundation for flourishing places.

March 30, 2016 - Brookings

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Websites

The best of the Internet—since 2002.

Top Apps

Planning apps for a brave new world.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

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.