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Public spaces are an important part of Knight Foundation's work in cities and the communities where we invest. We believe that great public spaces have the power to transform cities. They are where neighbors can meet and residents can enjoy local arts and culture, take a jog or spend time with family. They help to advance civic engagement and the attachment people feel to their cities - both necessities for creating more informed and engaged communities. Recent research by the Center for Active Design shows that public spaces can help to facilitate community connection, trust and involvement.

This one-stop-shop toolkit features guidance and best practices for rural downtowns and urban neighborhood commercial districts through three platforms: a downloadable handbook, a multi-part webinar series, and this online resource library, which includes a variety of new tools and links to transportation- and streets-focused resources, best practices, and research from across the country.

A growing number of global leaders-driving both the theory and practice of innovation districts-have established The Global Institute on Innovation Districts.

For decades, we have been building transportation through communities, rather than creating communities through transportation. Streets designed only to move cars can work so much harder. They can certainly carry more people by more modes of transportation-but they can also become great places in their own right.

At the Placemaking Leadership Forum this fall, more than 450 dedicated public space practitioners and policymakers came together to chart the future of the placemaking movement. The second day of the event was structured around ten major issues that converge in public space, which we at PPS refer to as "transformative agendas."

WHAT IF WE BUILT OUR COMMUNITIES AROUND PLACES? As both an overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a neighborhood, city, or region, Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, Placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, Placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.

We wrote this guide to introduce creative placemaking to transportation planners, public works agencies and local elected officials who are on the front lines of advancing transportation projects.

Some may be surprised to hear PPS echoing a version of the modernist mantra "form ever follows function" (see principle 9), but it's important for us to remember what that phrase is really all about. When it was first coined by Louis Sullivan, it was a humanist idea: that the form of a building should serve first and foremost the human uses that animate it. But over time, as Jane Jacobs observed, the idea of function underwent a "drift from humanism to gimmickry."

Building inclusive, healthy, functional, and productive cities is perhaps the greatest challenge facing humanity today, and there are no easy solutions. A key part of the puzzle, though, lies right at the heart of the world's urban areas: its public spaces. Here are ten ways you can help strengthen the social fabric of your community and jump-start economic development by creating and sustaining healthy public spaces.

Placemaking, a collaborative process by which we (residents, architects, activists, community leaders and planners alike) shape our public realm together, is fundamentally about inclusion and shared community ownership.

There is growing evidence showing that place impacts people's health on multiple scales. From obesity and chronic disease to depression, social isolation, and increased exposure to environmental toxins and pollutants, the world faces very different health challenges today than it has in the past, and many of these challenges are directly related to how our public spaces are designed and operated.

Creative placemaking is a new way of making communities more livable and prosperous through the arts, and making them better places for the arts. Creative placemaking is about more than public art or performing arts centers. It is about making places better for everyone. Traditional approaches to using arts as a revitalization tool tend to focus on building large institutions, districts or just 'doing projects.' Creative placemaking starts with building effective partnerships. Our approach to creative placemaking is based on six key elements: Building diverse and productive partnerships in communities and with local leadership to implement ideas. Enhancing quality of life for more people in communities Increasing economic opportunity for more stakeholders in communities Building healthier climates for creativity and cultural expression Engaging existing assets (both physical and human) as much as possible Promoting the best and distinct qualities of a place Our work is guided by the teachings of reflective practice, double-loop learning, asset-based community development, fifth level leadership, arts-based community development, communicative practice, environmental justice, and other current and cutting-edge philosophies of practice.  

The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking (NCCP) was created to build capacity for sustainable and cost-effective creative placemaking. Creative placemaking is a new way of making communities more livable and prosperous through the arts, and making them better places for the arts. Creative placemaking is about more than public art or performing arts centers. It is about making places better for everyone.

E.F. Schumacher (author of Small is Beautiful) offered timeless advice about how to boost our communities, "Perhaps we cannot raise the wind. But each of us can put up the sail, so that when the wind comes we can catch it." Here's a handy list of ways you can capture the breeze in the place you call home. And we're sure you'll discover more ideas of your own.

William H.(Holly) Whyte (1917-1999) is considered the mentor for Project for Public Spaces because of his seminal work in the study of human behavior in urban settings. While working with the New York City Planning Commission in 1969, Whyte began to wonder how newly planned city spaces were actually working out - something that no one had previously researched. This curiosity led to the Street Life Project, a pioneering study of pedestrian behavior and city dynamics.

"Personally, I consider the social leg to be the most critical, as I'm unconvinced that we'll ever be able to effectively handle the challenges of the other two - especially at the local level in times of turmoil and change - in the absence of the rich social interdependencies that used to define us."

The Codes Study is a collaborative effort led by Hazel Borys and Emily Talen, and contributed to by many public and private planners, tracking the prevalence of form-based codes worldwide. As of November 2012, we've tracked 433 codes that meet criteria established by the Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI), as well as an additional 14 form-based guidelines. 252 of these are adopted, with others in progress. Even though form-based codes are 30 years old, 82% have been adopted since 2003.

Urban Imprint demystifies how interactions between the built environment and human activity impact economic, social and ecological value. Working with planning and real estate industry professionals, Urban Imprint then leverages that know-how to develop evidence-based sustainable planning, design, and development solutions.

The Project for Public Spaces offers this checklist to help determine if your city is a "great" city. "Community goals are a top priority in city planning: - Citizens regularly participate in making their public spaces better and local leaders and planning professionals routinely seek the wisdom and practical experience of community residents. - Residents feel they have responsibility and a sense of ownership for their public spaces."

San Francisco's policies encourage the design and development of 'Better Streets,' sometimes referred to as 'Complete Streets,' that work for all users. The San Francisco Better Streets Plan, adopted in December 2010, states: Better Streets are designed and built to strike a balance between all users regardless of physical abilities or mode of travel. A Better Street attends to the needs of people first, considering pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, street trees, stormwater management, utilities, and livability as well as vehicular circulation and parking.