Making Great Places

What Makes a Great Public Space?

Presented by Cynthia Nikitin R Squared: Risk and Reward Conference

Senior Vice President, PPS Telluride, CO September 11, 2012

50 U.S. States, 7 Canadian Provinces

42 Countries

Over 110 Major Cities

3000 Communities

2 Million visitors to our web sites (2010)

37,000 people get our electronic

newsletter

11300 Twitter

8200 Facebook

37 Years of Placemaking

Downtowns

Civic Centers

Neighborhoods

Campuses

Streets and Roads

Mixed-Use Centers

Squares

Public Markets

Parks

We shape our public spaces; thereafter our public spaces shape us. –PPS, adapted from Winston Churchill

“It’s difficult to create a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” - William H. Whyte

“What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.” ─William H. Whyte

It’s often difficult for people to understand that

place is more important

than design. ─ PPS

Why don’t we have better

Public Spaces today?

• Fear

• Narrow Development

Goals

• Project-driven vs. Place-

driven Planning

• Discipline-Based

Planning/Design vs.

Community-Based

Placemaking

• Government Structure

Get from

Inadequate

back to

Extraordinary

We Have to Turn

Everything Upside

Down - To Get it

Right Side Up

To

What Makes a Great Place?

PROJECT FOR

PUBLIC SPACES

sociability uses & activities

access & linkages comfort & image

Welcoming

evening use

volunteerism

street life

transit usage

parking usage patterns

pedestrian activity

Walkable

Convenient

Accessible

Charm Clean

Attractive

Historic

Safe

building conditions

environmental data

sanitation rating

crime stats

Cooperative

Neighborly

property values

land-use patterns

retail sales

business ownership

Special Real

Fun

Active Vital

Connected

Key Attributes

Intangibles

Measurements

PLACE

A TALE OF TWO LIBRARIES

City Library, Salt Lake City, UT

Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ

Qualities of a Great Public Space

• Attractions & Destinations

• Identity & Image

• Flexibility in Design

• Amenities

• Transparency

• Active Edges

• Triangulation

• Seasonal Strategy

• Mix of Uses

• Reach out like and Octopus

• Diverse Funding Base

• Management

Attractions & Destinations

Image & Identity

Accessible

Flexible Design

Amenities

Active Edges

Transparency

Triangulation

Seasonal Strategies

Mix of Uses

The best way to handle the issue of undesirables is to make a place

attractive to everyone else. –William H. Whyte

Reach out like an Octopus

Diverse Funding Base

•Public support

•Private sponsorship

•Broad partnerships

Security --

City Funding

23%

Facility -

Parks

Department

6%

Event Rentals

18%

Tenant

Leases

24%

In Kind

Donations

17%

Event

Sponsorships

12%

Creating Great Civic Spaces

Management: Central to the Solution

1. The community is the expert

2. You are creating a place not just a design

3. You can’t do it alone

4. They always say it can’t be done

5. You can see a lot just by observing

6. Develop a vision

7. Form supports function

8. Triangulate

9. Start with the petunias

10. Money is not the issue

11. You are never finished

Tools and Techniques for Creating

Great Public Spaces

Translating Ideas

Into Action

Implementation

Underlying Ideas

Planning & Outreach

Techniques

Start by looking at how

spaces are really working

Identify problem areas

Brainstorm solutions

5. You can see a lot just by observing

Children’s Workshop

Creating a vision through art

BRAC

West Farms Square

Pedestrian Surveys

Community Destination and Transit Route Mapping

Place Imagination Exercise

BRAC West Farms Square Time Lapse Photography

BRAC West Farms Square Time Lapse Photography

BRAC West Farms Square Rendering

6. Develop a vision

Be ambitious and

create long term goals.

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Stakeholder Interviewees:

Library Staff

City/County Planning

Arts, Cultural and Community Organizations

City/County Elected Officials

Friends of the Library and Genealogy Society

WGCU

Transportation

Property and Business Owners

FMRA

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Concept 2

CREATING A GREAT URBAN LIBRARY

IN DOWNTOWN FT. MYERS PROJECT

FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Theatres/

Museums

Transit

Hospital Coffee

Shops

Libraries

Schools

Parks

Community

Center

City Hall

Churches Offices

Communities Today

City Hall Community

Centers

Theatres/

Museums

Transit Hospitals

Coffee

Shops

Libraries

Schools

Civic Squares

Community Gathering

Spaces/Parks

Churches

Offices

Communities

of the Future

It has to be a Campaign

Develop

a vision

Become great

communicators

Search for

impediments

Organize a

strong team

Attack

Complacency

Produce

short term

wins

Take on

bigger

challenges

Connect change

to the culture

of the

community

People Who Make Dramatic Change By John Kotter

Five Placemaking

Strategies for the Library of the future

1. Conceive of and program libraries as public

spaces

2. Programmatic diversification vs. capital intensive

efforts

3. Facilitate partnerships with community

organizations, civic institutions, & the private sector

4. Leverage other public sector resources

5. Undertake cooperative resource planning

"Place Game" Evaluation Process

Break into teams and assign a leader

Go out to assigned public-space sites and use the Place Game form to evaluate, observe, and interview

Return here at the appointed time to discuss your findings with your team

Create a mini-presentation to report back to all workshop participants

• Convenient

• Walkable

• Continuity

• Proximity

• Connected

• Enticing

Access & Linkages

Uses & Activities

• Fun/Vital

• Active

• Indigenous

• Sustainable

• Affordable

Red Hook, Brooklyn

• Attractive

• Inviting

• Usable

• Historic

• “Green”

• Friendly

Comfort & Image

• Welcoming

• Interactive

• Neighborliness

• Pride

• Diversity

• Stewardship

Sociability

Agenda

10:00 –10:45 pm

• Place Evaluation Exercise

• Evaluation of selected site. Teams will be assigned a specific site to

evaluate and brainstorm ideas for.

10:45 –11:30 am

• Team Work and Brainstorming Session

• Small group discussions

11:30 – 12:00 pm

• Applicability and Replicability Discussion

• Adjourn

Reflection Plaza

Reflection Plaza:

Site 1

Reflection Plaza: Site 2

Reflection Plaza: Site 3

Reflection Plaza: Site 4

Heritage Plaza: Site 1

Heritage Plaza: Site 2

Heritage Plaza: Site 3

Heritage Plaza: Site 4

www.pps.org

@CynthiaNikitin

Cnikitin@pps.org