Public Space

Cairo's first new green space in more than 100 years has opened -- on top of a 500-year old garbage dump.

To build a sense of community and improve long neglected but heavily used bus stops, a community group in South Los Angeles has begun creating colorful outdoor living rooms to give residents a place to sit and chat.

Vacant lots and underutilized dirt patches are the the romping grounds of a new breed of activists. Known as "guerrilla gardeners", groups of people all over the world are reclaiming their cities' public spaces and landscapes by planting seeds.

Using laser technology, two artists have created a new type of "temporary graffiti" -- light shows that use public places as canvasses for their laser art.

Three years after Irvine, California's "Great Park" was approved, development of the planned public spaces, homes and businesses has struggled to move forward. The housing crisis is being blamed for the lack of action.

Short on funding, Toronto's waterfront parks agency is considering a plan to sell the naming rights to the park's amenities, allowing corporate sponsors to add their name to such public features as walkways and play areas.

This article from Orion looks at an "urban wilderness" in Brooklyn that is being reclaimed and reused by locals.

This piece from The Tyee offers ideas about how to recreate streets into lively public green spaces.

A public art exhibit in a Baltimore park has elicited complaints and compliments from various voices in the city. But like it or not, the art is good for the city's consideration of and connection to its public spaces, according to this editorial.

A policy requiring new commercial developments to include public spaces has created more than a dozen new public places in downtown San Francisco since the 1980s. Some say more effort is needed to make these public places known by the public.

This piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at the role design plays in encouraging interaction amongst academics and calls out for better planning.

Officials in Miami-Dade County have just released their parks master plan, an ambitious proposal that looks to go beyond creating park space by redefining the region's public realm.

This article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle looks at the increasing public demand for Complete Streets in Brooklyn.

With a focus on public spaces, Flint, Michigan, is looking to revitalize itself.

The Project for Public Spaces offers this checklist to help determine if your city is a "great" city.