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Announcing PlacemakingUS's "Public Realm Roundtable!" A national and international gathering of #publicspace and #placemaking leaders in NYC June 13-16. 🗽 The Public Realm Roundtable is a national gathering of government and supporting organizations who build, maintain and enliven public space. New York City’s Mayor Adams, business districts and the Alliance for Public Space Leadership have come together to forge a new position in government, the Director of the Public Realm. This revolutionary new role could become a best practice that the top cities across America should want to pursue. A gathering of those responsible for the public realm including parks departments, property management bureaus, public works managers, and government-adjacent players like BIDs, “Friends of” organizations and conservancies will convene in New York City this June to have a series of thematic roundtable discussions to share good practices, innovations and discuss pain points in our collaborative and emergent work to create praise-worthy public realms. Key Topics of Discussion 🤔 Catalyzing and Keeping Cross-Department Synergies to Complete Vast Transformation 🤔 Maintenance and Enlivening of Spaces with Partners through Permits, MOUs, and License Agreements 🤔 Equity and Anti-gentrification Tactics 🤔 The Next Frontier: Reforming Already-Existing Public Spaces for Better Use: 🤔 When Streets, Sidewalks, Parking Spaces, Buffers and Margins become new centers of Public Gathering 🤔 Making the Case: Connecting the Realm to its Outcomes like Health, Economy, Climate, Sociability and other positives outcomes to attract partners and ease permissions https://lnkd.in/enN6e8mt The event is in collaboration with Ya-Ting Liu and her NYC Office of the Public Realm, Pratt Urban Placemaking and Management, NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, Social Life Project, PlacemakingX, Street Plans and many more. Further details for sign-up coming soon! Global #PlacemakingX leaders participating so far include Daniela Chacon Arias, Guillermo Bernal, Ramon Marrades, Lex de Jong 莱克斯, Tim Tompkins, Madeleine Spencer, Ryan Smolar, Ethan Kent, Mike Lydon, David Burney, Fred Kent and others... #NYCPublicSpace #PlacemakingUS #PlacemakingNYC #PlaceGovernance

📢 Do you use your local public spaces? 📢 Are they inclusive? Do you feel safe? We want to hear about your experiences with local public spaces. If you want to help us make a change, you can fill out our survey and let us know what you think (it will literally take you less than a minute!) 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/dScaqMyT

Dive into McKnights Senior Living’s latest editorial column as we uncover the evolving landscape and emerging trends that will shape the future of senior living beyond the silver wave. Gain insights into what lies ahead and how senior living operators can adapt to the evolving needs and expectations of senior living residents. https://hubs.la/Q02hTVZG0

Yesterday, our Director of Research Dr Al Mathers joined Future of London at Public Spaces Expo for a timely discussion of issues around widening participation in the built environment. Her key takeaways include 👇 1️⃣ Upfront investment (in terms of time and resources) is critical for trusted relationships to flourish between design professionals and communities. 2️⃣ Participatory design approaches do not always follow a linear journey or a 'one size fits all' model. To avoid 'participation washing' they need to be adapted and evolved with the community, based on communication needs, motivations for engagement, and deep understanding of place. 3️⃣ This should be supported by capability building - both in terms of community confidence and skills, and organisational mindsets to support and adapt to community visions for change. 4️⃣ Overall, we need a move away from short-term extractive projects to long term partnerships. Explore an example of a place-based research and engagement programme: https://bit.ly/4bwJtew Find out more about participatory approaches via our Peer Research Network: https://bit.ly/3qxwRiX #BuiltEnvironment #PublicSpaces #ParticipatoryDesign #PlaceBasedResearch #PeerResearch

We need to start building cultures of access instead of always doing one-off accommodations. When we treat access as an individual random issue by “dealing” with accommodations as they come up, we fail to interrogate ableism that is baked into our society. As the brilliant late Stacey Milberne had said, “it lets society off the hook”. Start at the centre! Read Disability Justice authors who do so much amazing intersectional access work! What I’m reading: 1. https://lnkd.in/gNXhN7Dw 2. https://lnkd.in/g4VnMcz9

I had the honour of being a guest speaker for the final panel of CROSSROADS Vitural event, focusing on intergenerational perspectives. The final panel, which I was thrilled to be a part of, delved into intergenerational perspectives on infrastructure. We explored how different generations view infrastructure priorities, preferences, and the importance of planning for the future. I spoke about the need to consider how we interact with our surroundings, sharing a story of a mokopuna (grandchild) wanting to visit their grandparents. Whether the journey is just up the road or across the city, what is their experience? Why is it that way? What can we change? Now, more than ever, we need to understand how our decisions will impact future generations we will never meet. CROSSROADS provides a fascinating snapshot of community sentiment, capturing multi-generational preferences, priorities, and perspectives through an infrastructure lens.

We often think of public spaces as third spaces, but they're also our first and second. They're the places we (re)claim to express ourselves, seek refuge and meet our most basic needs. How we take up this space, however, rubs up against tensions about who "owns" public spaces and who is allowed to make up the "public."   In this workshopat the Evergreen Conference led by Eunice Wong and Keisha St. Louis-McBurnie from Monumental, we’ll explore how power, including ownership and governance, can be shared or shifted for our human experiences (like grief, joy, protest, belonging, relaxation) to rightfully take up space, and create more equitable and inclusive public spaces.    Learn more and register for the Evergreen Conference this October 9 & 10: https://lnkd.in/gaKQ6pdd     #EvergreenConference2024 #EvergreenBrickWorks #Toronto #PublicSpace #Placemaking   

#publication alert. A new study published in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health by Dr. Layla McCay and Dr. Jenny Roe explores the profound impact urban design has on mental well-being. This research emphasizes how thoughtful city planning can enhance mental health outcomes for urban residents. Here are our top 3 takeaways: 1. Green Spaces: Access to parks and natural areas significantly boosts mental health. 2. Community Connectivity: Well-designed public spaces foster social interactions, reducing feelings of isolation. 3. Noise Reduction: Lower noise pollution levels in urban areas contribute to better mental health. This study highlights the crucial role urban design plays in shaping our mental well-being. As we continue to develop our cities, prioritizing mental health-friendly designs can lead to healthier, happier communities. Access the full report at: https://lnkd.in/gCYm2Uag

WATCH ON DEMAND: Missed our recent CROSSROADS virtual events? Never fear – recordings of each panel discussion, expertly moderated by world-renown advisor, author and urbanist Prof Greg Clark CBE FAcSS are now available for on-demand viewing: https://lnkd.in/e2P3b3tQ Timed with the launch of CROSSROADS – a comprehensive survey of more than 10,000 people across 10 countries – these virtual events brought together diverse panellists from around the world to unpack the challenge of promoting fair and fit-for-purpose infrastructure, from one generation to the next.   CROSSROADS presents a fascinating snapshot of community sentiment – including multi-generational preferences, priorities and perspectives – through an infrastructure lens. The key findings from this wide-ranging study set the scene for a series of engaging panel discussions exploring how we can make the right decisions today, to help chart a course to a more equitable infrastructure future, tomorrow.   Discover our panellists’ value-adding insights here: https://lnkd.in/e2P3b3tQ   #CROSSROADS #FutureCommunities #PowerofCommitment

Opportunity in Miami: The Milken Institute released its latest ranking of US cities. Out of 200 large cities Miami came in at #55, up 8 spots from last year. A few things stand out 1. Miami was dead last (#200) on housing affordability 2. Miami was close to the bottom on income inequality (#196), community resilience (#187) and broadband coverage (#180) 3. Miami fared a lot better on wage growth between 2021-22 (#2), job growth from 2021-22 (#13) and high-tech GDP growth from 2017-2022 (#18) Much work to do to build on Miami’s recent momentum. Economy is booming but we have to make a Miami that works for everyone. https://lnkd.in/eG9qgJjy