Project for Public Spaces - Streets as Places

Streets as Places – Chicago, 15 th 2007

48 U.S. States, 6 Canadian Provinces
26 Countries
2000 Communities
2 Million visitors to our web sites (2006)
24,000 people get our electronic newsletter
32 years of Placemaking

William H. (Holly) Whyte The Organization Man, 1956 The Exploding Metropolis, 1958 The Last Landscape, 1968 Plan for the City of New York, 1969 The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, 1980 City: Rediscovering the Center, 1988

Outline of Presentation
Community/Neighborhood Planning
Placemaking…What is it
Why do we build our Cities around cars?
Best Cities/Best Examples
Qualities of Great Streets
New York Campaign
Transportation Paradigm Shift
Placemaking Process
Developing a Campaign

Designing neighborhoods with vibrant community centers
Creating shared-use streets
Providing quality public spaces that serve community needs
Neighborhoods First Planning includes-

Vision for neighborhood planning … creating great public spaces Placemaking is the foundation of creating livable communities.

Vision for neighborhood planning … revitalizing centers

Vision for neighborhood planning … reshaping streets and boulevards

Environment Civic Engagement Public Health and Obesity Local Economy Smart Growth CITIES/ PLACES Sustainable Communities Transportation Livability Historic Preservation Convergence of Community Goals

evening use volunteerism property values rent levels transit usage traffic data mode splits parking usage patterns pedestrian activity building conditions environmental data sanitation rating crime statistics street life social networks land-use patterns retail sales PLACE sociability local business ownership number of women, children & elderly Cooperative Neighborliness Diversity Stewardship Pride Friendly Interactive Welcoming Continuity Proximity Connectedness Walkable Convenient Accessible Readability Charm Attractive Historic Spiritual Sittable Walkable Safe Clean “ Green” Sustainable Celebrations Indigenous Special Real Useful Fun Active Vital What Makes a Place Great? access & linkage comfort & image uses & activities key attributes intangibles measurements

Thoreau said “there is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.” In this light, Placemaking is a dynamic human function: it is an act of liberation, of staking claim, and of beautification; it is true human empowerment.
What is Placemaking?

Placemaking is turning a neighborhood, town or city from a place you can’t wait to get through to one you never want to leave.
Placemaking is creating for everybody
Placemaking is the process of giving space a story that is shared by many.
What is Placemaking?

New Haven: Chapel Street

If you plan for cars and traffic… you get more cars and traffic.

The erosion of cities by automobiles proceeds as a kind of nibbling. Small nibbles at first but eventually hefty bites. A street is widened here, another is straightened there, a wide avenue is converted to one way flow and more land goes into parking. No one step in this process is in itself crucial but cumulatively the effect is enormous . Jane Jacobs, 1954

A study of three generations of 9 year olds found that by 1990, the radius around the home that children were allowed to play had sunken to a ninth of what it had been in 1970.
Richard Louv

When you design your community around people … you get more people.

London BEFORE AFTER Trafalgar Square 100 Public Spaces Program

Public Transit Enhancements
Street Improvements
Kensington High Street Kensington High Street Oxford Street London

ACCESS: Makes pedestrian movement safer
IDENTITY: A civic element
COMFORT: Reduces the negative impact of traffic on the surrounding communities
Champs Elysees, Paris, France The Benefits of Boulevards

Barcelona-A City of Boulevards

Paris-A City of Boulevards

Paris From Congested to Shared Streets in 5 years - Sidewalks widened - Buffered bike lanes - Dedicated bus lanes

Paris-Champs Elysees

Paris-Champs Elyees

Paris-Boulevard du Montparnasse

Paris-Side/Cross Streets

Paris-Sidewalk Cafe

Case Study: Paris Plage

Copenhagen Parking Lots Removed Gammel Strand 1988 Gammel Strand 1996

Copenhagen

Berlin

Düsseldorf-Koenigsalle

Vienna

Qualities of Great Streets
Attractions & Destinations
Identity & Image
Active Edge Uses
Amenities
Management: Central to the Solution
Seasonal Strategy
Diverse User Groups
Traffic, Transit & the Pedestrian
Blending of uses and modes
Protects Neighborhoods

Curiosity, chaos, choices, with special places, rest spots, - the art of the path.

Clustered activity points of interest.
10+ Destinations – including food and markets, local retail, art, play, education, health/recreation .

Active Edge Uses
Active building bases

Amenities
Public and private seating options
Triangulation to support use – clusters of street amenities

Management - Central to the Solution
Programming – daily activity generators/cultural, civic and seasonal celebrations

Draws diverse user groups
No one group or use dominates

Walkable – Places to go
Range of transportation options

New York City Street Renaissance

Donald Appleyard, UC Berkeley Professor of Urban Design, quantified the impact of traffic on social ties. HEAVY TRAFFIC 16,000 vehicles per day MEDIUM TRAFFIC 8,000 vehicles per day LIGHT TRAFFIC 2,000 vehicles per day 0.9 friends per person 3.1 acquaintances per person 1.3 friends per person 4.1 acquaintances per person 3 friends per person 6.3 acquaintances per person Broken Streets

Broken Streets I keep my windows shut I spend more time in the back of my house I forbid my children to play in the streets I go out on the street less often LIGHT TRAFFIC STREET MEDIUM TRAFFIC STREET HEAVY TRAFFIC STREET New Yorkers deal with traffic in the following ways: 7.7% 26.0% 52.2% 56.5% 18.5% 5.1% 7.4% 21.7% 0.0% 2.6% 7.4% 43.5%

The Truth About Traffic 6% Only 6% of shopping below 59 th Street in Manhattan involves a car. 6% DRIVE 69% WALK 24% USE TRANSIT Shoppers Are Walkers

New York City-Herald Square

New York City-Mulry Square Fixing an Unsafe Intersection BEFORE TEST PERIOD: 1996 – 2001 AFTER: TEST MADE PERMANENT

Broadway Connecting Great Destinations Union Square Madison Square Herald Square Times Square

Astor Place A void between two great neighborhoods…

Astor Place … can support and showcase the best of NYC.

A funnel for downtown traffic.. Finn Square

...can be a defining space for Tribeca. Finn Square

Kenmare Square An unused square and roadway…

Kenmare Square … can become a major amenity for shoppers and residents.

West Broadway Where a shopping street fizzles…

West Broadway … it can be brought back to life.

Spring Street New York’s most successful neighborhoods…

Spring Street … can better serve the pedestrians that bring their success.

Grand Street Car storage space…

Grand Street … can become the most valuable space in the neighborhood.

Transportation paradigm shift Old Paradigm New Paradigm
Large area planning
Arterials
Access to malls
Retail market area - large
Single family bedroom communities
Big roads, wide intersections, and parking lots
Big solutions (interstates/bypasses)
Standards-based (Green Book)
Performance is about mobility
Small area planning
Boulevards
Access to corner markets
Retail Market area - small
Mixed residential/office/services with local businesses
Bike paths, sidewalks, narrow streets, and transit
Small solutions (road connectivity, context sensitivity)
Place-based
Performance is about access and sense of place

The community is the expert
You are creating a place not just a design
You can’t do it alone
They always say it can’t be done
You can see a lot just by observing
Develop a placemaking vision
Power of 10/Triangulation
Form supports function
Start with the petunias
Money is not the issue
You are never finished
Principles of Creating Great Places Translating Ideas Into Action Implementation Planning & Outreach Techniques Underlying Ideas

Project/Discipline Driven Approach Place Driven Development Approach

Creating Great Places/Destinations The Power of 10
Chicago needs 10+ major places/destinations.
Each neighborhood/downtown needs 10+ places/destinations.
Each place/destination must have 10+ things to do.
Connect places to create a district with 100 -1000 things to do.
Triangulate or layer uses to create synergy among multiple points of interest and diverse activities.

In Conclusion….
Good places breed healthy activity .
People attract people attract people .
When you focus on place, you do everything differently .
It takes many disciplines and skills to create a place .
It takes a place to create a community, and a
community to create a place .
Amenities that make a place comfortable are critical.
You can’t know what you are going to end up with.
Each place has its own identity .
You can’t have anything less than excellence
You have to have zealous nuts .

Building Communities through “Placemaking”
Figure what you want to become
Create your vision
Where your primary and secondary destinations are/power of 10
Then figure out how to connect each place with another

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

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. – Yogi Berra BE BOLD!

www.pps.org Making Places Newsletter Training & Conferences Publications & Resources

Identity & Image
Showcases local assets
Businesses, pedestrians, drivers, raise their behavior to this vision – sense of place.

Active Edge Uses
Active year around uses
Connections from both sides of street

Seasonal Strategies

Range of transportation options

Flexibility – blending uses & modes
Ground floors and retail that blur public and private space

Protects neighborhoods
Good transitions to local communities and desired street character

http://aspisconference2012.wordpress.com	146
http://liringwiduri.blogspot.com	50
http://www.slideshare.net	27
http://www.automata.pl	14
http://salgeog.blogspot.com	11
http://www.peabirus.com.br	5
http://salgeog.blogspot.co.uk	4
http://www.blogger.com	1
https://blackboard.syr.edu	1

Project for Public Spaces - Streets as Places

by metroplanning on Mar 26, 2007

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

9 Embeds 259

Statistics

Project for Public Spaces - Streets as Places — Presentation Transcript