Shape the future of people and places for the better. We design engaging human experiences that put people at the heart of your city-shaping project’s success.
External link for The Good Future Co.
We’ve been talking about how we bring a futures lens to placemaking and placekeeping with Jacquelyn West. We’re excited for this event. Join us!
Canadian Urban Institute hosts CityTalk in honour of World Cities Day October 31, 2024. Listen to our expert panel on placemaking, creating places that foster a sense of belonging, encourage community interaction, help small businesses thrive, and promote environmental sustainability. #placemaking
Our very own Jasmine Palardy was in Bilbao this week at WRLDCTY collaborating with other urban innovators from across the globe. Urban transformation driven by values. A city's language of love. Shaping places through collaborative action. This is the future of cities. This is how we build good futures.
Urban transformation driven by values. "Made true in Bilbao." This week we are exploring the remarkable transformation of Bilbao which is a story of shared values that enabled an ambitious vision to become reality. This year's WRLDCTY and Bilbao Metropoli 30's Bay Awards for Urban Innovation has gathered a remarkable network of global city-makers with shared values (hope + action) to peel away the layers of this magical place in ways that equip and enable all of us to do better for the places we shape (and call home).
The Good Future Co. reposted this
Imagine a world where neighborhoods aren’t just places to live, but hubs of creativity and authentic culture. Time Out's Coolest Neighborhoods list captures the soul of these communities—authentic, vibrant, and local. It’s about locals - people reclaiming their spaces, building something special, and making it a place where local culture , way of life, art, food, and experiences unite. That’s placemaking: empowering communities to create environments that people want to be part of, and that travelers can’t wait to explore. These neighborhoods remind us how to inspire and ignite change. Read more here: Coolest Neighborhoods https://lnkd.in/gQ4-j63Z PlacemakingX Placemaking India The Urban Vision Group GoodPass
As one of only a few green spaces in Calgary's Beltline, we're working with the Lougheed House to gather input on the future of the garden with a #placemaking pop-up to test playful lawn games, social seating options, and ways to keep the space safe, social, relaxing and even more whimsical. TELL US WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE! https://lnkd.in/gybaeGvN The historic Beaulieu Gardens is a very special place 💐 Did you know that the gardens are public and open for anyone to walk their dog, hang out with friends, read a book, etc? Add your voice to the mix this week. Beltline Neighbourhoods Association The Beltline Business Improvement Area Courtney Walcott Allison Graham Naomi Grattan MA Shannon Murray
Beautiful civic assets have the power to create social and economic change. Here in Calgary, the Arts Commons, the BMO Centre and the arena are just a few examples of large-scale assets that will soon transform downtown. Their development is an opportunity to explore their connectivity and how their role as 'anchors' can create experience pathways throughout the city to other community assets - like galleries, theatres, or skating at Prince's Island Park. As the Urban Institute highlights "every city has varied civic assets - parks, libraries, trails, community centres - but they are rarely considered a network". The UI suggests that by considering assets as a 'portfolio', it can support a more expansive sense of how civic assets can mutually reinforce one another. What might the 'experience pathway' between our civic assets look like? How might that change the way we see them, how they generate economic opportunities for small businesses, how they strengthen communities? https://lnkd.in/gUhTGhBt cc Calgary Downtown Association
From retail, to clubhouses, to community innovation labs, and beloved culinary experiences: storefronts and main streets are platforms for unique experiences that build community and strong economies. Join us at WRLDCTY this October for this and many more conversations about what makes the world's best cities (both small and large) so great.
Thrilled to be back w/ WRLDCTY this Oct to bring stories of storefronts and main streets into the fold. The sidewalk level is where magic happens! We'll share stories about stores, lobbies, and sidewalks as living labs; projects that renewed civic pride, fostered sense of place, attracted innovation and built thriving local economies. Really thrilled to chat with Jaime Izurieta and Hans Karssenberg. More on this year's WRLDCTY can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gGC9t-ff
There’s a concept in #placemaking called the Power of 10+. It’s the idea that places are exciting and draw people when users have a range of reasons (10+) to be there. Those 10+ things vary depending on the environment but can include music, food, places to sit, shade, signage, and accessibility ramps. Whatever that mix looks like, the Power of 10 has the potential to bring people together and make vacant spaces magic. Tonight, this was perfectly on display at the City of Calgary new River Hall where the Downtown Strategy Team transformed Lot 6 into a food hall, a gathering space and a dog park / playground. The magic of great seating, various visual elements and a sound stage layered with the power of ice cream, people, and music created a destination that can become a new center of gravity for downtown west end and for Calgary. Congratulations to the team behind the project, hope to see much more of this in Calgary and beyond! 👏 Belleville Placemaking Aire commune Thom Mahler Natalie Marchut Aliyyah Mohamed, MBA and more.
Countdown to launch. 🚀 Is your city on the cusp of its next chapter? Are you looking to accelerate collaboration, define a bold vision, and invest in pillar projects that make your city great? If so, you might just be a Challenger City. Program and mentors will be launched soon. Stay up to date here: https://lnkd.in/gsa7gffS
Work in progress update! 🚧 We're building an accelerator for city-builders and community innovators of all shapes and sizes. If you're passionate about your small or mid-sized city and think it's ready to punch above its weight, you just might be a CHALLENGER CITY! 🏙 Program details and mentors will launch soon, but interested folks can begin applying now. https://lnkd.in/gyKmY-AN Are you looking to accelerate collaboration, define a bold vision, and invest in pillar projects that make your city great? Challenger Cities are driving the next wave of community-led innovation and economic prosperity in Canada. Not ones to sit idle in the shadow of the big cities, these small and mid-sized cities are ready to make bold bets that attract investment, create jobs, and accelerate innovation. Challenger Cities form their unique proposition around what they can bring the world - rather than compare themselves to established hubs. In doing so, they strengthen their local economy, regional economy, and foster equity, ingenuity, resilience, and community pride. They know their strengths and their unique stories – and they’re ready to go toe-to-toe on the global stage. . . Gratitude to Iain Montgomery for igniting the concept of Challenger Cities and giving us something to spring off of. #placemaking #urbaninnovation #economicdevelopment #cities #downtown
The Good Future Co. reposted this
The first in a series of ~12-ish conversations I'm hosting for this Challenger City TO thing is out now, and to get things started I could think of nobody better than someone who is a bit of a co-conspirator on the topic with me. Jasmine Palardy of The Good Future Co. We talked about how Toronto is kind of ripe just now to embrace the Challenger City mindset, redefine itself with a story that feels relevant and reclaim a bit of its soul from the recent overdevelopment in the likes of big condo and office towers that haven't proven to be resilient as the world has changed quicker than the city can react. Something I hope we take from this conversation is the rise of the Challenger City concept is not just about traditional urban development and only what we build. It also has to be about creating places where people feel connected, inspired and proud to be part of the change, not just relying on the same old suspects to do it from the top down. 🎧 If you're a podcast type, then go here: https://lnkd.in/gW59T3rw ✍ If you're not, and prefer to read something somewhat interesting, well this is better for you: https://lnkd.in/g5Btxke3
The Good Future Co. reposted this
How might we DO more.... Strategic Doing is a much better process for #towncentres, #mainstreets and #places. It proposes a much shorter planning phase, then action. This is then repeated many times. It is 'learning by doing'.
The traditional 'plan then act' approach is so ingrained that it is almost a reflex, particularly in government. Common mistake no. 6 is too much planning and not enough action. It's related to common mistake no. 1, but refers to the allocation of time and resources. Plans are prepared, but then there is little time, budget or resources allocated to implementing the actions recommended in the masterplans or strategies. Some #localgovernments have dozens of strategies and plans sitting on shelves. For example, one local government in a major Australian city had 47 documents that suggested ideas to improve the town centre, prepared over 10 years. 15 (!) different visions for the #towncentre had been drafted, and more than 400 actions had been recommended in these 47 documents. When we investigated, guess how many had been budgeted or implemented. Zero, none, nada. #Strategic #Doing is an excellent antidote and alternative. The Agile Strategy Lab says that - "Unlike strategic planning, which was developed primarily to guide strategic activity in hierarchical organizations, this approach is designed for situations in which nobody can tell anybody else what to do. Collaboration is the only way to move forward." Local authorities can't and shouldn't be expected to do it all to improve places and town centres. They need to take a collaborative approach. Strategic Doing is a much better process for #towncentres, #mainstreets and #places. It proposes a much shorter planning phase, then action. This is then repeated many times. It is 'learning by doing'. Find out more about it at Strategic Doing Institute - https://lnkd.in/gJ8MGbr - and in our Placemaking for Professionals course Placemaking Education - https://lnkd.in/gHWGb5Qt. Town Team Movement PlacemakingX Emma Snow Cate Baker Jimmy Murphy Dean Cracknell David Snyder David Engwicht Ethan Kent Josh Kent Eric Smith, MA Ed Morrison Jane Rogan Mel Jones katrina hill Patrycja Rosinska Rory Murray Kendell Terrell Diego Degenhart Krista Nightengale Rik Adamski, CNU-A Cam Perkins Jia-Ping Lee Yanling Lin Azbah Ansari Mike Fisher Alyce Brewis Jenny Marslen Pauline Wark Ramon Marrades