PPS’s Placemaking process allows diverse
constituencies to
identify how a public space can be reshaped to make it a welcome,
well-functioning and attractive place for people. Our approach to Placemaking
is based on our
belief that it is not enough to simply develop design ideas and
elements to
improve or develop a public space.
Improvements need to reflect community values and needs. We believe that a public involvement process
that defines and responds to community conditions and needs from the
outset is
one of the most critical factors in achieving a public space that is
truly
sensitive to its context.
Thus,
Placemaking, as PPS approaches it, must
begin with a
thorough understanding of the dynamics, desires, and conditions within
a
community. It involves looking at,
listening to, and asking questions of the people in a community about
their
problems and aspirations. We work with them to create a vision around
the
places they view as important to community life and to their daily
experience;
and we help them implement their ideas beginning with short term, often
experimental improvements.
Based on
our work in Placemaking, we have developed
a Place
Diagram: What Makes a Place Great?
This chart outlines the major attributes of
well-functioning places along with the intangible qualities that people
use to
positively describe them as well as the elements that can be used to
measure
their success. We have found this tool to be particularly useful in
helping
communities discuss the issues of importance to them. The major
attributes
outlined on the chart are Sociability, Uses and Activities, Access and
Linkage,
and Comfort and Image, considerations that consistently surface as
community
improvement necessities wherever we have worked. This
chart, in combination with the
presentation of slides showing existing conditions alongside examples
of
improvements in similar situations (from PPS’s collection of over
500,000
images), helps crystallize ideas for betterment and the creation of a
vision.
As part
of its visualizing process, PPS often uses its Place Performance
Evaluation
GameÔ.
This place-oriented approach to community
improvement and involvement relies on common sense and intuition along
with
structured PPS observation and interview techniques for a quick, but
productive, site assessment. By participating in this “game,”
participants get
to know each other better and gain new insights into ways to look at
downtowns,
streets and other public space environments and the areas within them
more
holistically and to see their potential as meaningful “places” in
communities.
The evaluation can be done by highly trained professionals or laypeople
– equally
dramatic results are achievable by both groups – as well as by a small
planning
team working individually. It is easily adaptable for use as part of a
public
meeting or community workshop.
Site visits and
evaluations
customarily take place in the vicinity of the workshop that is being
conducted,
so that participants have easy access to study sites.
The workshop or meeting participants are
divided into groups and instructed in how to complete the Place
Performance
Evaluation GameÔ, using
special forms created by PPS for that purpose.
Participants then return to the training session venue for a
breakout
discussion of observations from each study site visit, and both short
and
long-term recommendations are reported out to the larger group session.
About
Project for Public Spaces
Public spaces
are a stage
for our public lives. They are the parks where celebrations are held,
where
marathons end, where the seasons are marked and where cultures mix.
They are
the streets and sidewalks in front of homes and businesses where
neighbors meet
and people come to shop and stroll. They are the “front porches” of our
public
institutions - city halls, libraries, schools, and post offices where a
local
farmers market may sell flowers and produce. When cities and
neighborhoods have
thriving public spaces, residents have a strong sense of community. But although public spaces are critical to
creating livable cities and communities, good public spaces in cities
today are
rare.
Project for
Public Spaces,
Inc. (PPS) has an international reputation for its work on the design
and
management of public spaces. A nonprofit, PPS was founded in 1975 to
continue
the pioneering work of writer-sociologist William H. Whyte
(The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces).
Using structured observations, surveys, interviews, and a unique
community process that puts residents and stakeholders first, PPS has
helped
over 1,000 communities improve their public spaces.
Public and private organizations, federal,
state and municipal agencies; business improvement districts; the
private
sector; neighborhood associations, chambers of commerce and other civic
groups
have all worked with us to create a sense of place in their downtowns
and
neighborhoods.
PPS programs
include:
o
Advocacy
and
research in
transportation, parks,
markets and public buildings;
o
Publications, including our handbook How to Turn a
Place Around;
o
Training
programs, conferences and
seminars in Placemaking;
o
A
digital and
film slide library of public space enhancements and elements,
and;
o
Websites
laden with resources and
active, community driven listserves (www.pps.org
to discover more)
o
Awards
programs that highlights
the thriving
places of the world (greatpublicspaces.org)
To find out more, consult our website at www.pps.org.
How
PPS can help you
Presentations
A tailor-made
presentation
can help you build support for a place-based approach to development at
a town
meeting, conference, or community visioning workshop.
Our presentations, also appropriate for a
conference or meeting, are based on a slide show of public spaces and
vital
communities around the world that is customized for your community or
area of
interest.
Professional
Training
All of our
courses are
tailor-made to the needs of the clients and the results are always
geared to
give professionals the expertise they need to improve specific public
spaces in
their communities. Training programs are for professionals—in community
development, transportation, parks, markets, and building managers
among
others. Recent training programs are Context Sensitive Design for state
transportation officials, and How to Turn a Place Around, held
biannually in
Planning and
Design
Services
Working with
local partners
to implement projects, PPS assists communities in from start to finish.
We work
with local partners on a process that starts with community input both
in terms
of targeted meetings but also on site observations and analysis. As a community-based vision is developed for
the space, PPS helps to bring in the partners that will be necessary to
assuring that the space functions successfully in the end.
In addition to developing a conceptual design
for the space, we also develop, with the local partners, a practical
management
strategy for the space, resulting in a vision and concept for a
successful
space.
Phase One: Conceptual Planning
PPS can help
your community
build a vision for transforming its public realm with a community
process that:
* Involves
residents,
merchants, and other stakeholders
* Uses
structured
observations and interviews to understand the issues at a site
* Learns from
other’s
experience to avoid mistakes
* Develops a
workable
vision
* Builds
consensus among
stakeholders
Phase Two: Design and Implementation Management
But a vision
and a plan are
often not enough. PPS can also help you plan and implement a strategy
to
transform your community by:
* Developing an
action plan
with short, medium and long term recommendations
* Identifying
funding
sources
* Cost
budgeting for
improvements
* Partnering
with other
organizations
* Developing
renderings and
plans that articulate the collective vision of the stakeholders
* Holding
additional
workshops to garner broad-based support