Competition Aims to Shrink Miami's Public Space Deficit

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, 11am PDT | Jonathan Nettler | @nettsj

"The 'Our Miami Public Space Challenge,'’ which launches Wednesday, is the brainchild of the Miami Foundation, which last year embarked on a comprehensive effort to help locals feel more love for the place they call home," reports Andres Viglucci. "The idea is based on a growing number of studies that show a close relationship between fiscal prosperity and cities whose residents feel a warm affinity for their hometowns. That’s in part because cities that people are proud to live in also tend to attract and retain the skilled, talented workers who drive economic growth."

"The Miami Herald and WRLN/Miami Herald News are the Miami Foundation’s media partners in the new contest, which poses a fresh challenge: To come up with feasible, creative ideas for a shared space that can give a specific neighborhood a meaningful boost in livability and identity," he adds. The foundation has committed to investing $100,000 "to make the ideas become reality."

"The concept is to have residents, the real experts on their own neighborhood, design or develop the public spaces, rather than government planners or private developers," says Viglucci.

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Contest offers cash prizes for making better public spaces in Miami

Published on Sunday, July 28, 2013 in Miami Herald