Public Space
The role of business improvement districts in criminalizing homelessness reflects a tension between private interests and public space, Rob Waters writes.
Next City
Parklets in San Francisco are available for public use, but often they serve as extensions of the dining rooms of eateries.
San Francisco Chronicle
New York City is holding a competition for a distinctive logo to clearly demarcate all of its 550 privately-owned public spaces.
AM New York
A comprehensive study to revitalize the Atlanta regional waterfront, dubbed the Chattahoochee RiverLands project, is now underway.
Saporta Report
Insight from Barcelona and Portland on how to plan and design an active, welcoming neighborhood square.
The Western Planner
In his new book Palaces for the People, sociologist Eric Klinenberg explores the places—from libraries and schools to cafes and churches—where cities' social lives take place. It's a compelling idea but one that Klinenberg discusses clumsily.
California Planning & Development Report
Former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat wants to transform three failing golf courses into free public spaces.
The Toronto Star
With so much attention devoted to how technology will change roadways and vehicles, less speculation has attended to the ways technology will change walking.
Foreground
Battles for inclusion and exclusion in the life of the city more often end in stand-offs than in skirmishes.
Urban Omnibus
Where can teenagers hang out and be safe in public? Members of Yes Loitering, advocates for public spaces where youth can “hang out and be themselves” without fear of reprisal.
Urban Omnibus
More uses and modes than ever are fighting for curb space in growing cities. Here's an app to make sense of what you can do, and when, along this valued real estate.
The Verge
The Gehl Institute, working with several public sector partners, has released an open source "Public Life Data Protocol."
Gehl Institute
What moves us about great public space is its ability to convene community. To provide an accessible place of solace and celebration. It’s not about the buildings, or even the streets. It’s about the experience. Susan Henderson on Savannah's squares.
PlaceShakers
The number of dog parks in the United States has almost doubled since 2007. Some worry these spaces are not welcoming or could signal gentrification.
The Washington Post
The Milwaukee RiverWalk is already pretty great, but there's still work than can be done.
Urban Milwaukee
In the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, resulting from the gathering of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, American cities are rethinking whether statues honoring the heroes of the Confederacy belong in public spaces.
Vox
Public spaces are full of monuments to a rebellion fought to maintain slavery.
Quartz
A think-piece published by CityLab argues that public space, and the ideals it embodies, are under threat from the racist groups that gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.
CityLab
A day of reckoning has come for state lawmakers who proposed protections for motorists who attack protestors from behind the wheels of their car. A tragedy at protests in Charlotte has cast new light on the dangerous potential of such laws.
The Dallas Morning News
Blog post
Since its inauguration in 1975, San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza has not served its intended purpose.
