Public Space
How Placemaking Lost its Way — And How it Can Get Back on Track
The term has often become diluted, getting attached to projects that don’t live up to its lofty aspirations.
India’s Women-only ‘Pink Parks:’ Safe Refuge or Segregated Enclaves?
Women-only public spaces can provide safety and community, but critics argue they fail to address deeper structural problems.
Jim Crow Robbed America of Public Pools. It’s Time to get Them Back.
Disparity amongst who can and can’t swim in America isn’t an accident — and it's deadly. Let’s reclaim the community pool as an essential public space.
6 Streets Getting Pedestrian Makeovers in 2026
These U.S. cities are reducing or removing car traffic to make major streets more people-friendly.
String Lights are Secular! The Holiday Case for Year-round Placemaking
The holidays make streets and spaces warm, cozy, and welcoming. Why don’t we do that year round?
Delivery Robots are Taking Over Chicago Sidewalks, Alarming Residents
Residents have reported that the food delivery bots have forced people off sidewalks into busy streets and collided with bicyclists.
Land Use: Chasing Utopia, 2025?
History has taught us the risks of undervaluing the power of planning decisions. Overvaluing them might be just as dangerous.
San Francisco to Dismantle its Polarizing Brutalist Fountain
The Vaillancourt Fountain stands as a symbol of the tension between the city’s past and future.
How the Rise of Delivery Culture is Changing Urban Design
Curb management is quickly becoming a key part of urban planning as delivery vans, ride share vehicles, shared mobility devices, transit, and private cars compete for scarce curb space.
Montreal Artist Envisions What Cities Would Sound Like if we Deprioritized Cars
What would a city sound like without the noise of vehicles?
Manhattan Waterfront Parking Lot to Become Public Park
A lot that has served as parking for decades will add a much-needed public amenity to the East River waterfront.
Houston 'Abandons' Street for Convention Center Expansion
The city plans to eliminate multiple blocks of public streets as part of an expansion project that some residents say didn’t take into account local connectivity.
William Whyte’s Seminal Urban Film Restored
‘The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces’ changed the way planners view public space and ushered in a new way of understanding urban patterns.
‘Grätzloasen’: The Urban Oases Vienna Pays its Citizens to Build
The Austrian capital offers grants of up to 5,000 Euros to residents who want to build their own parklets in curbside parking spaces.
The Death of the Living Room
High housing costs are squeezing out common shared spaces in many UK apartments, leading to social isolation and negative mental health impacts.
DC to Invest $1 Million in Public Restrooms in 2026
After residents protested the closing of six Throne restrooms, the District is creating a position to manage public bathrooms and plans to fund 10 bathrooms in the next year.
In Praise of Analog Cities: Futureproofing in a Time of Crisis
I didn’t need a pandemic or a war to teach me that smart cities weren’t the future — but it sure drove the message home.
How Public Spaces Exclude Teen Girls
Adolescent girls face unique challenges and concerns when navigating public spaces. We can design cities with their needs in mind.
Quantifying Social Infrastructure
New developments have clear rules for ensuring surrounding roads, water, and sewers can handle new users. Why not do the same for community amenities?
NYC Open Streets Organizers Call for City Support
The number of open streets projects has dropped year after year as volunteer groups struggle to fund and staff them.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
