Public Space

Over the last two decades the city of San Francisco has systematically removed its public benches to fight homelessness. Now citizens are clamoring for their return.

Parklets are a new urban trend spreading to cities all over the world. It's an idea born in San Francisco, and the San Francisco Chronicle's John King takes a tour of each of the city's new mini-parks

New street furniture is being installed in Toronto, but locals are already sick of it. They're called "information pillars" and are supposed to offer helpful directions and info to pedestrians, but critics complain that they're mostly advertisements.

Five years after Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of São Paulo, Brazil passed the "Clean City Law", banning all visual pollution around the city, both citizens and businesses are thankful.

Leon Neyfakh of The Boston Globe examines the unexpectedly cohesive political roots of the controversial civic symbol.

The plan to create a floating public space along the Thames is a great idea, writes critic Rowan Moore, but the proposed London River Park will suffer from its private ownership and management.

In an another nuance of the ownership laws that govern New York's parks and plazas, the modernist masterpiece Lever House will close today to keep its plaza privately public.

Poet Jon Cotner uses fleeting snippets of conversation in public spaces as the basis for his poetry. Caitlin Blanchfield took a walk with Cotner to talk about his process.

From the Walklet in SF to Transparent Churches in the Netherlands, Allison Arieff argues that "temporary space remains a sharp tool in the urban revitalization kit." Sheer creativity notwithstanding, what makes these spaces so successful?

Transplanting the wildly popular pilot projects in NYC and SF across the northern border, the City launches VIVA Vancouver program that converts parts of eight streets into public spaces.

Got what it takes to revamp the Union Square, Washington Monument Grounds, and Constitution Gardens? The design competition is now open to anyone who has the vision of making this revered space in D.C. the "best park in the world."

Plans are moving ahead to convert Berlin's Tempelhof airfield into the city's newest park.

As San Francisco prepares to host the 2013 America's Cup regatta, plans to use parts of the city's scenic waterfront for spectators' yacht parking edge too far into the public realm, according to this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle.

An unconventional outdoor spaces has helped transform a small part of a problem-riddled San Francisco neighborhood.

Neighborhoods in New York City have built temporary "pop-up" playgrounds in an effort to encourage more physical activity among children.

Due to open in a month, Lynn Rasic discusses the underlying elements that made up the National September 11 Memorial, including a single rescued pear tree symbolic of the City's resiliency and strength.

Urban regeneration in Detroit begins with public space in a form of street market - one that sells plenty of fruits and vegetables.

A new public park in downtown Phoenix is both a venue for artists and performers and a public space that calls to mind a small neighborhood park, according to this piece from Next American City.

In an effort to improve the visitor experience and boost business, operators of a busy transit hub in Boston are bringing in performers and various activities to entertain people waiting and convince others to linger longer.

As the desire for wireless internet increases, some public parks are finding that Wi-Fi networks are becoming a new and important amenity.