Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office

The memorable experiences of one’s education often take place in the most comfortable and socially engaging places on a campus.  Campus planning has sometimes been neglectful of allowing for and creating such places, instead focusing more narrowly on single-use facilities and isolated design statements.

Harvard University has been quietly challenging this pattern and opening up to our Placemaking approach.  PPS worked with the university’s North Campus - which previously felt disconnected from the school’s well-known Harvard Yard - to develop recommendations in 2005 regarding seasonal uses and short-term experiments to activate the campus and make it feel more connected to the Yard.  In 2006, Harvard announced plans for a new Allston Campus, which will be built over the next 50 years.  With PPS’s help, this plan is being framed, in part, around key campus destinations and connections to the surrounding community.

This semester, Harvard brought Placemaking to its main campus, establishing a Steering Committee on Common Space to make campus life even better.  The Committee, dedicated to making sure the campus’ physical environment better supports the intellectual and social vitality of the University, has already installed colorful movable chairs and tables in Harvard Yard and the Radcliffe Quad.  A variety of foods will be offered nearby, and student performances will further activate the spaces.  For such a revered space, which never had any seating simply because there never was any historically, this is a big move and we applaud Harvard’s willingness to have a little fun with their most sacred space.

We are excited to see Placemaking being embraced on many college campuses.  A former PPS intern has been leading campus Placemaking efforts on the campus of Colorado College.  PPS has also been applying Placemaking to campuses in the development of new student unions, gathering areas and master plans on for institutions including, University of Madison Wisconsin, Stanford University, Duke University, George Mason University and University of Michigan Flint. Please share with us any examples that you may be involved with.

With Harvard taking these bold but simple steps, we are hopeful that campuses around the world will be inspired to find innovative ways to make their campuses more inviting and more memorable, and better contribute to the public realms of the communities they serve.

Photo: Akademgorodok: Town of Science in Siberia. 1995.

What: A pedestrian-oriented, academic oasis in the midst of the vast Siberian taiga.

Why it Works: Despite the Siberian cold (and Soviet planners), Akademgorodok is a robust pedestrian community. The town is home to dozens of academic institutions and the University of Novosibirsk. What really sets this town apart from others, in terms of public spaces, is its network of well-used pedestrian paths. These trails are the sinewy arteries of this vibrant town. They are an organic part of the landscape. The wide streets are busy twice a day with cars and buses slipping and sliding along the ice. The trails, by contrast, are almost always buzzing with activity. The pedestrian paths also link the town with surrounding destinations: the beach at the Ob Sea, the woods (for berry picking and mushroom gathering), and even nearby villages. Another neat aspect of the trails is that, since there are so many, you can choose from the many different ways to get from point A to point B. Stores, houses, offices and playgrounds are scattered in places, clustered in others, but they are all within walking distance. The paths are not where you plan to meet, they are the places where you run into familiar people by happenstance, which makes meeting friendly faces all the more enjoyable.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

The Placemaking Chicago campaign is asking Chicagoans to nominate their favorites places.  PPS and Metropolitan Planning Council kicked off the campaign last fall with training courses for municipal and community leaders and publishing PPS’s first handbook for community-based placemaking.  The campaign is now seeking to broaden the conversation in Chicago about places and placemaking by asking “What Makes Your Place Great?” The content will allow engaged city residents to take pride in their neighborhoods, and learn about the interesting ways other neighborhoods capitalize on their local assets and sense of place.

From June 3 through July 27, 2009, entrants can e-mail original photos or videos showcasing their favorite public places across Chicagoland, along with a 250-word-or-less description, to placemakingchicago@metroplanning.org. (Complete rules and submission criteria are available at PlacemakingChicago.com. Entrants may feature places in the City of Chicago or in Chicago suburbs located in Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties in Illinois; or in Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties in Indiana; or in Racine and Kenosha counties in Wisconsin.)

“Show and tell us not only why your favorite place is special to you, but also how it contributes to your community,” said MPC Associate Karin Sommer, who manages the Placemaking Chicago project. “Is it somewhere people go to relax or meet up with friends? What are some unique ways people use the space? And what is it about this place that keeps you and your neighbors coming back day after day, and year after year?”

PPS has its own catalog of Great Public Spaces, featuring the best places from around the world.  Nominate your favorite here!

More Information:

The Best Places in Chicago [Chicago Journal]

Known for its skyline and natural setting, Seattle is organizing to re-envision its streets as places for people.

‘What’s your street for?’ is the motto of Seattle’s new Streets for People Campaign.  Modeled in many ways after the ‘Open source’ NYC Street Renaissance Campaign that PPS helped to found, Streets for People’s approach to advocacy is to connect, convene and inspire a new conversation about how streets can best be used as public spaces for people.

The campaign will be coordinating with a broad range of local organizations, as well as with the city, on bike and pedestrian Master Plans, a Summer Streets program, Seattle’s new plan for light rail transit (LRT), as well as a Low Impact Vehicle Exhibition (aLIVE) which invites the public to submit installations for display and demonstrations during a one day exhibition.

PPS’ Renee Espiau traveled to Seattle to help launch the Streets for People campaign in February.  Espiau gave a presentation on PPS’s work and approach to generating demand and creativity for the higher use of our road space and how that placemaking approach translates into city-wide advocacy.  The event was covered by the Worldchanging blog.

In New York City, PPS partnered with The Open Planning Project and Transportation Alternatives to create the New York City Streets Renaissance (NYCSR) which has ignited a powerhouse of change for pedestrian oriented redevelopment in various NYC locations such as Gansevoort Plaza and Madison Square. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced plans to reclaim vast stretches of Broadway through Times Square and Herald Square which realizes dreams set early in the campaign.  Look out for more reclaimed pedestrian space and great streets in Seattle.

This momentum in Seattle further reflects the ripe Placemaking movement that PPS has participated in and chronicled over recent years.

The new Gansevoort Plaza and the bollards some find unsightly

A partnership between PPS, Transit Alternatives and Streetsblog formed in 2005 called the NYC Streets Renaissance fueled a number of projects aimed at reclaiming street space for pedestrians. One project was the redevelopment of Gansevoort plaza in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Last month, NYC’s DOT hosted a meeting for community members to hear feedback on how the new plaza was fitting in. Some visitors had gripes with the bollords around the plaza which bear a striking resemblance to nipples. Others complained that it was too much of a nuisance to get home when traveling by cab or limo because now they had to get dropped off a little further from home. Still others supported the new plaza saying that it makes them feel much safer when crossing the street. One of the most popular and constructive pieces of criticism was the issue of livery traffic, and the popular support for taxi stands in the area to keep drivers from stopping around the plaza itself, which contributes to congestion. There are currently plans to add three taxi stands around the area.

Read more about the new Gansevoort Plaza at eyebeam.org or streetsblog.org

Read more about the New York City Streets Renaissance here and PPS’ work with Gansevoort Plaza by clicking here

PPS has begun work with the Texas-based Appleseed Project, seeking to reform how and where mixed use developments are built.  Aiming to bring amenities to existing communities and reduce reliance on the automobile, businessman Brett Sheldon has plans to build smaller-scale mixed use complexes to areas already populated with housing.  The developments will provide an unconventional mix of uses that is intended to create a place for the community to gather and informally interact with their neighbors.

Appleseed projects, the first of which is slated for McKinney, Texas, will be located at an intersection of two well-traveled arterials. Its focus will be a multi-purpose plaza and a family restaurant with outdoor dining, rather than the sea of parking usually found at malls and shopping complexes.  The plaza will be available to the community for a wide-range of programs that respond to their needs – everything from farmers markets to small performances and community events.  It will also offer permanent attractions such as a play area, fountain or water feature and game tables.  The small complex will be managed by a well-trained team that will work with a local steering committee to create a lively program of home-grown events.

Retail and business space will be used for local mom-and-pop shops and small businesses, adding to local vitality and providing residents with walkable options for entertainment, dining and employment. The developments will also provide small, incubator-type office space so that local residents can work close to home.

PPS will be working with the community to develop the program for the prototype in McKinney.  Seven more Appleseed projects are slated for the suburbs of Fort Worth and Dallas in the next few years.

Links:

• The Appleseed Project

• McKinney Appleseed project aims to bring development to residents [Dallas Morning News]

Planetizen has named PPS/Jay Walljasper’s The Great Neighborhood Book as one of its top 10 planing books of 2007.  http://www.planetizen.com/books/2008
Also, Urban Land magazine recently reviewed The Great Neighborhood Book in the November/December 2007 issue. Click here to read the review.
The Great Neighborhood Book also received an honorable mention on the American Booksellers Association’s list of books about promoting local businesses.

The Rockefeller Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal on its website through February 1, 2008. The 2008 Rockefeller Foundation Jane Jacobs Medals will recognize two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City.

Click here for the full  press release

Click here for the The 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal Nomination Form

A movie theater, hotel and market all are part of the plan for the redevelopment of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center site at Colorado Boulevard and East Ninth Avenue.

The plan, to be unveiled next week, includes up to 1,200 residential units, 150,000 square feet of retail space and about 500,000 square feet of office space.

“It really becomes kind of the urban center for all those surrounding neighborhoods,” said Marcus Pachner, who is working with developer Shea Neighbors, part of Shea Properties, on the project.

HONOLULU — A signing ceremony for the sale of 298-acres at Kapolei between the University of Hawai‘i and Hunt Development Group was held earlier this week in Bachman Hall with University President David McClain, UH West O‘ahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni, Chris Hunt and Steve Colon of Hunt Development Group.

“The new UH West O‘ahu campus will go a long way towards meeting the needs of the growing Leeward community; today’s agreement with Hunt brings that vision one step closer to reality,” said McClain.