Cynthia Nikitin of the Project for Public Spaces presented "Making Great Places" on Day Two of R-Squared's Creative Spaces Experience.

1. What Makes a Great Public Space?
Presented by Cynthia Nikitin R Squared: Risk and Reward Conference
Senior Vice President, PPS Telluride, CO September 11, 2012

2. 37 Years of Placemaking
 50 U.S. States, 7 Canadian Provinces
 42 Countries
 Over 110 Major Cities
 3000 Communities
 2 Million visitors to our web sites (2010)
 37,000 people get our electronic
newsletter
 11300 Twitter
 8200 Facebook

3. Downtowns
Squares Civic Centers
Public Markets Streets and Roads Neighborhoods
Parks Mixed-Use Centers Campuses

4. We shape our public spaces; thereafter our public spaces
shape us. –PPS, adapted from Winston Churchill

5. “It’s difficult to create a space that will not attract people.
What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”
- William H. Whyte

6. “What attracts people most, it
would appear, is other people.”
─William H. Whyte

7. It’s often difficult for
people to understand that
place is more important
than design.
─ PPS

8. Why don’t we have better
Public Spaces today?
• Fear
• Narrow Development
Goals
• Project-driven vs. Place-
driven Planning
• Discipline-Based
Planning/Design vs.
Community-Based
Placemaking
• Government Structure

10. We Have to Turn
Everything Upside
Down - To Get it
Right Side Up
To
Get from
Inadequate
back to
Extraordinary

12. Key Attributes
What Makes a Great Place? Intangibles
Measurements
street life business ownership
evening use property values
volunteerism land-use patterns
Fun retail sales
Welcoming
Cooperative Active Vital
Neighborly Special Real
sociability uses & activities
PLACE
access & linkages comfort & image
Connected Safe
Walkable Charm Clean
Convenient Attractive
Accessible Historic crime stats
transit usage sanitation rating
pedestrian activity PROJECTconditions
building FOR
parking usage patterns environmental data
PUBLIC SPACES

13. A TALE OF TWO LIBRARIES

16. City Library, Salt Lake City, UT

23. Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ

27. Qualities of a Great Public Space
• Attractions & Destinations
• Identity & Image
• Flexibility in Design
• Amenities
• Transparency
• Active Edges
• Triangulation
• Seasonal Strategy
• Mix of Uses
• Reach out like and Octopus
• Diverse Funding Base
• Management

28. Attractions & Destinations

29. Image & Identity

30. Accessible

31. Flexible Design

32. Amenities

33. Active Edges

34. Transparency

35. Triangulation

36. Seasonal Strategies

37. Mix of Uses

38. The best way to handle the issue of undesirables is to make a place
attractive to everyone else. –William H. Whyte

39. Reach out like an Octopus

40. Creating Great Civic Spaces
Diverse Funding Base
Security --
In Kind City Funding
Donations 23%
17%
•Public support
Facility -
•Private sponsorship Parks
•Broad partnerships Tenant Department
Leases 6%
24%
Event Rentals
18%
Event
Sponsorships
12%

41. Management: Central to the Solution

42. Tools and Techniques for Creating
Great Public Spaces
1. The community is the expert
2. You are creating a place not just a design
Underlying Ideas
3. You can’t do it alone
4. They always say it can’t be done
Planning & Outreach 5. You can see a lot just by observing
Techniques
6. Develop a vision
Translating Ideas 7. Form supports function
Into Action 8. Triangulate
9. Start with the petunias
Implementation 10. Money is not the issue
11. You are never finished

43. 5. You can see a lot just by observing
 Start by looking at how
spaces are really
working
 Identify problem areas
 Brainstorm solutions

46. Children’s Workshop
Creating a vision through art

47. BRAC
West Farms Square
Pedestrian Surveys

48. Community Destination and Transit
Route Mapping

49. Place Imagination Exercise

52. BRAC
West Farms Square
Time Lapse Photography

53. BRAC
West Farms Square
Time Lapse Photography

55. BRAC
West Farms Square
Rendering

56. 6. Develop a vision
Be ambitious and
create long term goals.

57. PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

58. PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

59. Stakeholder Interviewees:
 Library Staff
 City/County Planning
 Arts, Cultural and Community Organizations
 City/County Elected Officials
 Friends of the Library and Genealogy Society
 WGCU
 Transportation
 Property and Business Owners
 FMRA
PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

60. PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

61. Concept 2
PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

64. CREATING A GREAT URBAN LIBRARY
IN DOWNTOWN FT. MYERS PROJECT
FOR PUBLIC SPACES

65. Communities Today
Offices Churches
Hospital Theatres/
Coffee
Museums
Shops
Community
Parks Center
Transit
Libraries
Schools City Hall

66. Communities
of the Future
Churches Schools
City Hall Community
Centers
Libraries
Civic Squares
Community Gathering Theatres/
Museums
Coffee Spaces/Parks
Shops
Offices
Hospitals Transit

67. It has to be a Campaign
Develop
a vision Attack
Complacency
Produce
Become great short term
wins Connect change
communicators Organize a to the culture
strong team of the
Take on community
Search for bigger
impediments challenges
People Who Make Dramatic Change By John Kotter

68. Five Placemaking
Strategies for the Library of the future
1. Conceive of and program libraries as public
spaces
2. Programmatic diversification vs. capital intensive
efforts
3. Facilitate partnerships with community
organizations, civic institutions, & the private sector
4. Leverage other public sector resources
5. Undertake cooperative resource planning

69. "Place Game" Evaluation Process
 Break into teams and assign a leader
 Go out to assigned public-space sites
and use the Place Game form to
evaluate, observe, and interview
 Return here at the appointed time to
discuss your findings with your team
 Create a mini-presentation to report
back to all workshop participants

71. Access & Linkages
• Convenient
• Walkable
• Continuity
• Proximity
• Connected
• Enticing

75. Uses & Activities
• Fun/Vital
• Active
• Indigenous
• Sustainable
• Affordable

78. Red Hook, Brooklyn

83. Comfort & Image
• Attractive
• Inviting
• Usable
• Historic
• “Green”
• Friendly

91. Sociability
• Welcoming
• Interactive
• Neighborliness
• Pride
• Diversity
• Stewardship

95. Agenda
10:00 –10:45 pm
• Place Evaluation Exercise
• Evaluation of selected site. Teams will be assigned a specific site to
evaluate and brainstorm ideas for.
10:45 –11:30 am
• Team Work and Brainstorming Session
• Small group discussions
11:30 – 12:00 pm
• Applicability and Replicability Discussion
• Adjourn

96. Reflection Plaza

97. Reflection Plaza:
Site 1

98. Reflection Plaza: Site 2

99. Reflection Plaza: Site 3

100. Reflection Plaza: Site 4

101. Heritage Plaza: Site 1

102. Heritage Plaza: Site 2

103. Heritage Plaza: Site 3

104. Heritage Plaza: Site 4

105. www.pps.org
@CynthiaNikitin
Cnikitin@pps.org