Civilized Urban Planning: August 2017

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Principles for creating great places

"Effective public spaces are extremely difficult to accomplish, because their complexity is rarely understood. As William (Holly) Whyte said, “It’s hard to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”

"In our 1999 book “How to Turn a Place Around,” PPS identified 11 key elements in transforming public spaces into vibrant community places, whether they’re parks, plazas, public squares, streets, sidewalks, or the myriad other outdoor and indoor spaces that have public uses in common. This was a key milestone in our history, as this book helped to launch and define the placemaking movement."

The community is the expert
Create a place, not a design
Look for partners
You can see a lot just by observing
Have a vision
Start with the petunias: lighter, quicker, cheaper
Triangulate
They always say, ‘It can’t be done’
Form supports function
Money is not the issue
You are never finished

For more information, visit: http://www.therenewalproject.com/11-principles-for-creating-great-community-places/.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Shadows in the city

"If you’re staring at your phone you’ll probably miss them. I mean shadows are everywhere, do you really pay that much attention to them? Artist Damon Belanger was recently commissioned by the business owners of downtown Redwood City, California to inject a little life into the downtown core."