Some well-meaning urbanists try a place-making-in-a-box approach. Their efforts would resonate more if they took the neighborhood’s history and culture into account.
Best practices for place-making encourage improvements in walkability, public transit access, and use of public space, but Sahra Sulaiman argues that the effects of place making are limited, especially when what needs to be "made" are communities.
Sulamiman uses Leiment Park Village's Mask Festival as an example of the type of activation urbanists can miss. "It was an incredible day of beauty, grace, community, unity, resilience, culture, heritage, love, family, and transcendence," Sulamiman writes in Streetsblog LA. Sulamiman argues that for many who have been marginalized, this kind of festival represents a way to engage with public spaces, for communities that might not do so for a variety of reasons. "In many historically marginalized urban neighborhoods, decades of disenfranchisement and the repressive policing that accompanied it created great insecurity in the public space and, over time, eroded bonds of social trust between neighbors," Sulamiman argues.
"The success of cultural events like the mask festival (and the fact that it grows every year) serves as a reminder that much more than polka dots are needed for communities to believe a space is truly meant for its people," Sulamiman writes.
Read the full story: Ancestors v. Polka Dots: Some Thoughts on Approaches to “Place-Making”
The LA housing policies making developers turn away from the city
Despite LA’s housing shortage, developers say the city’s "mansion-tax" and pandemic-era policies make it an unappealing place to build housing.
New density bill would require 7 California cities to establish regional transit hubs
The bill would also require major cities in California to permit high-rise residential buildings.
LA needs $2 billion in Olympic Games transportation funding by Sept. 1, officials say
Congresspeople who serve the Los Angeles area met on Aug. 26 to urge the Trump administration to speed up funding.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello