Green placemaking

Building Green Cities Through Placemaking: Case-Studies and Lessons for the Sustainable & Equitable City Caroline Burney

TABLE OF CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION

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What is placemaking?

Why is placemaking important?

How do I apply principles of placemaking in my community?

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CASE STUDIES

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Detroit’s Eastern Market Greening Philadelphia’s Vacant Lots Medellin’s Metrocable & Transit-Oriented Development Berlin’s Flussbad: A River for the People Houston’s Discovery Green Gurgaon, India’s Raahgiri Day

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LESSONS: Bringing Placemaking to Your City

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Introduction Lesson One: Assessing Public Space Lesson Two: Building a Community Organization Lesson Three: Plan Implementation- Developing Partnerships

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WORKS CITED:

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INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS PLACEMAKING? Over recent decades, urban planners and community activists have renewed their emphases on the creation of public spaces, or placemaking as a way to build vibrant and active cities. This shift signifies a move to design our cities around people, and create places where communities can come together across difference. Through placemaking, planners, organizers and educators can create cities where citizens are both engaged and empowered.

Placemaking has important implications for the sustainable city. By bringing people together, placemaking not only improves the quality of public spaces, but also sparks public discourse, connects neighborhoods, expands social justice and promotes sustainability and resiliency. According to the Project for Public Spaces, “when we feel connected to a space, we are more likely to experience our connection to others within that space.” This increased connectivity in public space can show people their own agency in serving as stewards of a community while inspiring new collaborations and ideas.

WHY IS PLACEMAKING IMPORTANT? This heightened awareness of place as an important asset “represents a comeback for community,” and a move to valuing people and relationships (Silberberg, 2013, 3). Placemaking can bring people together to create more equitable cities. Historically, low-income communities of color have been left out of urban development projects, so placemaking has an important role to play to incorporate and amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. In order to create equitable centers of community engagement, placemaking must pose important questions like “how is placemaking benefitting low-income communities? Who are we improving the quality of life for? Who benefits from a revitalized economy?” (Mehta, 2012). These questions guide the process of developing public spaces to enhance diversity and equity within our cities.

In order to examine the role of placemaking and its implications for the equitable and sustainable city, I examine six urban projects from around the world. These examples aim to transform the way people engage with one another while also creating vibrant and thriving places. I first look to Detroit, where Eastern Market has become a food hub for both inner-city residents as well as suburbanites who have been drawn back into the city center; I then examine the greening of vacant lots in Philadelphia and its role in reducing crime; next, I look at transitoriented development in Medellin, Colombia and the role public transit plays in reconnecting the city’s most disenfranchised residents; next, I look at the innovative reimagining of the Flussbad Canal as a river for people in the heart of Berlin’s Museum Island; then, I examine the development of a large public park and arts space in Houston; finally, I examine the lighter-cheaper-quicker approach of Gurgaon, India’s Raahgiri Day to take back the streets for pedestrians.

HOW DO I APPLY PRINCIPLES OF PLACEMAKING IN MY COMMUNITY? These projects emphasize different aspects of sustainable placemaking and shed insights into the hopes and challenges of public spaces for transforming cities. Through this research, I have developed three simple lessons to educate multicultural communities and community organizations on how they can enact placemaking in their own neighborhoods and become agents of social change. These lessons provide a space for reflection as well as insight on how to assess public space, build robust community organizations and develop partnerships.

These lessons are not an exhaustive look at placemaking, as there are entire graduate programs and organizations devoted to understanding what makes public spaces flourish. Rather, these lessons provide newplacemakers an understanding of how to begin to enact change in their neighborhood with education and community-organizing inspired content.

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Left to Right: Produce and market-goers at Eastern Market, Detroit (Flickr Creative Commons)

INTRODUCTION: Placemaking takes many forms throughout the world, as cities recognize the benefits of quality public spaces and an engaged community. As more people move to cities, as environmental problems intensify, placemaking has important implications for the sustainable and resilient city. Creative adaptations of place within urban environments shine a light on new ways to expand access to healthy food, clean air and water, and increase the amount of green space in our cities. In Detroit, the Eastern Market, has become a hub for local food, providing affordable local food while bringing people together from all walks of life.

OVERVIEW: Amidst Detroit’s struggling industrial district, lies Eastern Market, a bustling farmers market and hub for local food entrepreneurs. People from all across the city and suburbs, come together at the market to access healthy, locally grown food. According to a report by MIT’s Department of Urban Studies & Planning, “the market is a point of life and brightness in this city and perhaps the only place where lowincome Detroiters and more affluent suburbanites interact on equal footing” (2013, 28).

“The market is a point of life and brightness in this city and perhaps the only place where low-income Detroiters

and more affluent suburbanites interact on equal footing” The market has been in operation since 1891 but underwent renovations in 2006 in order to more adequately serve the community. Since its renovation, the market has become a remarkable example of ”addressing food access issues while building community in a dramatically shrinking city” (Silberberg, 2013, 28).

The market sees up to 45,000 visitors each day, with 200 traditional produce vendors and 50 specialty food vendors, serving a broad base of customers (Eastern Market). The market has truly become a hub for local food by providing healthy low-cost food options, as well as supplying local

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restaurants with fresh produce, and supporting small food businesses throughout the city.

PLACEMAKING EFFORTS: Following the success of the market, Eastern Market has expanded into the neighborhood in order to “enrich Detroit- nutritionally, culturally, economically” (Eastern Market). In recent years, Eastern Market has invested over $80 million to develop communal commercial kitchens, additional public plazas as well as innovative food-access programs and business incubator programs to expand its breadth (29). Eastern Market has stepped into the placemaking role and is spearheading efforts to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood with plans to “coordinate a largescale streetscape improvement, greenway and bike connection plan” to increase access to the market (Silberberg, 2013, 30).

Eastern Market is an example of the power of place to bring people together across difference.

Aware of the tensions that urban revitalization can pose and its implications for gentrification, Eastern Market has made decisions to “avoid being too cool” such as “clean[ing] up the market but not mak[ing] it ‘too pretty; limit[ing] the number of specialty foods vendors; and [ensuring] residential zoning is kept to the outskirts of the district” (Silberberg, 2013, 30).

This placemaking work poses many challenges of maintaining the authenticity of the neighborhood while rebuilding the community’s economic base.

ANALYSIS: Eastern Market is an excellent example of the power of place to bring people together across difference and provide a distinct service: affordable, local food.

The market has become a bright spot in a struggling city and provides significant benefits to the local and broad community around expanding access to healthy food and revitalizing the economy.

The Eastern Market has been successful because it has been mindful of the needs of the community. As the breadth of the market expands, market stakeholders ask tough questions like how to revitalize a struggling district and bridge racial and socioeconomic divides without pushing people out?

Placemaking can spur gentrification, but Eastern Market’s intentionality around making healthy food accessible for all and “enriching the city” has maintained the market’s role as a place where all can convene. Eastern Market has important lessons for the future of placemaking, including the importance of being highly aware of the needs and the values of the community.

KEY LESSONS FROM DETROIT: • • •

Public places thrive when there is a diversity of services provided, catered to a broad audience Organizations and communities must be cognizant of the role that placemaking can play in driving gentrification and displacement and must work to create places that are accessible for all By providing distinct services (food), Eastern Market becomes engrained in the day-to-day life of the neighborhood, while also drawing tourists and suburban residents back to the urban core

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TOP: community painting mural at vacant lot.

LEFT: before and after at N Philadelphia vacant lot.

INTRODUCTION: In Philadelphia, neighborhood activists have transformed vacant lots into public places to build community cohesion and reduce crime. Greens spaces like these created in Philadelphia, benefit not only the surrounding community but pose long-term environmental and health benefits by creating safe, vibrant public places.

OVERVIEW: Like other de-industrialized cities, many neighborhoods in Philadelphia suffer from urban blight and the proliferation of vacant lots.

Philadelphia has an estimated 40,000 vacant parcels and a 26 percent poverty rate, posing enormous challenges of disinvestment for the city, particularly low-income neighborhoods (Jones, 2014). According to the Project for Public Spaces, when Lily Yeh, a local artist, began working in North Philadelphia in 1989, she was “shocked at the state of the streets—vacant lots strewn with rubble, like photographs of the bombed-out cities at the end of World War II—and she didn’t quite know where to start.”

Through Yeh’s efforts, this park has become a focal point for the neighborhood and serves as a “tangible symbol of renewal” for the community.

In response to the urban neglect she was witnessing in her neighborhood, Yeh began collecting trash at a local lot. This small act attracted the attention of neighborhood families, who joined her efforts of clearing the area, painting murals and building structures to create an “art park.” Through Yeh’s efforts, this first park became a focal point for the neighborhood and has become a “tangible symbol of renewal” for the community.

Since that first transformation of a vacant lot into an art park in North Philadelphia, Yeh has helped to found a local nonprofit, The Village of Art and Humanities. The organization’s mission is to “bring the transformative power of art to the most impoverished communities in the world through participatory and multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development, and preserve and support indigenous art and culture” (The Village of Arts and Humanities, 2012). Since its beginnings in 1989, The Village of Art and Humanities has transformed more than 120 formerly vacant lots with murals, gardens, mosaics, performance spaces, playgrounds, and other community

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gathering spaces. Yeh works at a small scale to develop places that are meaningful for neighborhood residents, and combats decade-long processes of institutional neglect by building community agency.

PLACEMAKING EFFORTS: The Village of Art and Humanities has fundamentally altered how residents of North Philadelphia neighborhoods view their community. As the number of public places where the neighborhood can gather has risen, “its community spirit and positive sense of self has grown” (Lily Yeh). In transforming vacant lots, Yeh and The Village of Art and Humanities are also transforming the community.

The Village of Art and Humanities has fundamentally altered how residents of North Philadelphia neighborhoods view their community According to the Village of Art and Humanities’ website, “building community implies building people and their physical environment. We build people through education, communal activities, and social programs; we build the physical environment through creating parks and gardens and renovating abandoned buildings and constructing new ones.”

The act of placemaking requires the intentional involvement of the community to develop places that are needed and wanted by residents; The Village of Art and Humanities in North Philadelphia is working to not only meet the currents needs of the community, but also to expand the community’s capacity to advocate and make change for itself in response to disinvestment and gentrification.

ANALYSIS: The work of Yeh has important implications for the future of placemaking, and bottom-up planning for low-income neighborhoods. According to the Project for Public Spaces, “placemaking can play such a role in hard hit neighborhoods, by putting the emphasis on improving the place itself rather than viewing it as a morass of dysfunctions, each of which is narrowly addressed in terms of specific issues or professional fields.” The work of Yeh in North Philadelphia is based on a premise of “building a genuine community in which people are reconnected with their families, sustained by meaningful work, nurtured by the care of each other and will together raise and educate their children.”

Placemaking represents a renewed emphasis on people and positive social engagement.

Increased green space, like transformed vacant lots, has significant positive mental, physical and social health benefits for communities Additionally, the North Philadelphia greening of vacant lots has been associated with a reduction in crime, according to a recent University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study. According to Eugenia C. Garvin, the lead researcher on the study, “vacant lot greening changes the physical environment of a neighborhood from one that may promote crime and fear, to one that may reduce crime and make people feel safer” (Delach, 2012). By making it difficult for people to conduct illegal activities and encouraging community cohesion, increased green space like the transformed vacant lots, has significant positive mental, physical and social health benefits for communities

KEY LESSONS FROM PHILADELPHIA: • • •

Placemaking can serve to create safer neighborhoods and encourage community cohesion by transforming once dangerous vacant lots into vibrant public places The act of placemaking not only creates meaningful public areas, the process connects and empowers people to become agents of change in their communities Placemaking and urban greening can change the way neighborhoods view themselves

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INTRODUCTION: In Medellin, Colombia, city officials have invested in equitable and affordable public transit in order to expand access to and from low-income communities. The ‘Metrocable’ has improved the quality of life for some of the city’s most disadvantaged communities located on the city’s steep hillsides, by providing accessible public transportation while also investing in some of the city’s most crime-ridden areas.

OVERVIEW: Medellin, Colombia has a rich history- one of significant social and spatial imbalance. During the 1960s and 70s, the city witnessed rural to urban migration, and underwent years of violence and unrest. With the higher populations, new residents settled in slums and informal developments tucked above the central city in the hilly outskirts (Sustainable Cities Collective).

In Medellin, geographic and environmental features compound existing economic inequalities.

These informal settlements lacked access to quality public spaces and public transit, exacerbating social and economic inequalities. In Medellin, geographic and environmental features compound existing economic inequalities, as most development and jobs are located in the valley, while most working people live up on the hillsides.

hillside slums, as an average commute took roughly two hours each way (Joseph, 2015). In 2004, in response to the lack of public transit for these lowincome communities, the city developed the Metrocable system to connect residents on the hillsides to the valley. Using conventional ski-lift technology, Metrocable promised to provide a “lowemission mode of transport” in the steep and rugged terrain (Davila, 2013, 2).

Today, the Metrocable accommodates 30,000 trips per day and consists of three lines. The system has radically improved the quality of life of some of the city’s most disadvantaged communities by increasing access to metro stops and employment opportunities in the valley (Joseph, 2014). Residents of the hillside settlements, formerly crime and gang infested areas, now have a reliable means of transportation without having to walk up hundreds of steps or sit through lengthy bus rides (Project for Public Spaces).

The lack of high-quality, accessible public transit posed a significant challenge to residents of the Burney 8

PLACEMAKING EFFORTS: Throughout its redevelopment, Medellin has made equity a core priority. This attention to the city’s underserved communities is reflected in Metrocable’s mission of improving the quality of life for the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods (Joseph, 2014). The city further invested in longneglected neighborhoods by developing plazas at the bases of each Metrocable stop. These plazas have become vibrant public places with food vendors, green spaces, libraries and other amenities. Around these developments, new schools have been constructed, and pedestrian walkways now connect parts of the city that were once deemed unsafe (Project for Public Spaces).

Metrocable has set the precedent for sustainable and resilient cities all around the world, by demonstrating the promise of public transit in driving equity and empowering communities.

Following the installation of the Metrocable, violence has significantly decreased. According to a recent study by Columbia University, violence in the neighborhoods in which the Metrocable has been installed has dropped 66% in comparison to neighborhoods that still lack access to high quality public transit (Davila, 2013, 3). Development around the Metrocable has created safer and more vibrant communities and dramatically improved the quality of life for people living in these neighborhoods. The city’s comprehensive investment around the Metrocable has set the precedent for sustainable and resilient cities all around the world, by demonstrating the promise of public transit in driving equity and empowering communities.

ANALYSIS: The development of the Metrocable provides important insights on how to “reduce poverty and integrate large marginalized areas into an urban fabric” (Davila, 2013, 2). The development of the Metrocable, which cost US $24 million, has proven to be an effective means of transport for relatively cheap in comparison to other forms of public transit.

Additionally, the Metrocable has little impact on air pollution and climate change. Other cities, like Caracas, have begun to take note and are installing similar projects to connect neighborhoods on the outskirts to the city core (Joseph, 2014).

The most significant benefits posed by Metrocable however are its impacts on the development of high-quality public spaces. Development around the Metrocable has transformed once violent and impoverished neighborhoods by creating vibrant public plazas and building community cohesion. This development changes not only how people move from point A to point B, but how people interact with one another. Medellin’s Metrocable has important implications for improving equity in our cities and ensuring that all citizens can achieve a high quality of life.

KEY LESSONS FROM MEDELLIN: • • •

Equity should serve as a core tenet and value in placemaking to reconnect and empower the most disadvantaged communities Transit Oriented Development can serve to increase density and build sustainable, resilient cities Lighter, quicker, cheaper approaches provide new insights on how to solve large infrastructural problems like the lack of public transit

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INTRODUCTION: Creative adaptations of place within urban environments shine a light on new ways to expand access to natural resources. In Berlin, designers, environmentalists and city officials have come together to call for the transformation of an underutilized canal of the Spree River, into an enormous outdoor swimming pool. The project, the Flussbad, aims to create a vibrant public place right in the heart of the city and build social cohesion .

OVERVIEW: In the late 1990s, Tim and Jan Edler began envisioning a better use for the River Spree. The river splits around Museum Island with a narrow canal on one side and the main channel on the other (O’Sullivan, 2014). Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to five Museums as well as a soon to be constructed historical palace and monument to commemorate the German reunification; it has been a popular destination for tourists for decades during the day, yet becomes desolate at night.

The Flussbad proposes to transform an underutilized canal in an iconic tourist district into an enormous public swimming area for both tourists and longtime residents. It promises to create a vibrant and whimsical public place for the people

right in the heart of the city. If built, the Flussbad would be 750 meters in length, roughly 15 times the length of an Olympic Swimming Pool (O’Sullivan, 2014). But transforming an old brownfield into a public swimming area will not be easy.

In order to make the River Spree suitable for human recreation, the Flussbad is proposing a comprehensive plan to filter and clean the water.

The entire system, roughly 2 kilometers in length will contain three distinct sections. In its first stretch, the river’s embankment will be removed in order to create a small oxbow lake. This will allow the river to flow more broadly and create space to develop a new urban park (O’Sullivan, 2014).

The entire system represents a radical re-visioning of green space and environmental resources within a city.

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Next, there will be a gravity-fed filtration system using gravel and wetland plant beds. This system can clean roughly 500 liters of water per second, enough to completely clean the entire pool once a day (Mitchell, 2014). The last stretch will be the enormous outdoor swimming pool and recreation area. The entire system represents a radical revisioning of green space and environmental resources within a city. Flussbad Berlin describes the entire project as “creat[ing] shelter to endangered animals and plants [and] a piece of the Spree River ecological functionality within the city” (Mitchell, 2014).

and participation are negotiated” (Flussbad, 2015). In other words, the Flussbad could impact the ways in which we think about utilizing public space and building urban identities.

The Flussbad is a forward-looking project, as the city contends with its identity post-reunification and grapples with rising problems of gentrification and displacement. It has important implications for cities around the world as it contends with how we make urban places work for both people and the environment.

ANALYSIS:

Above: Flussbad filtration system

Additionally, the Flussbad must still win the city’s approval. While many politicians stand behind the Flussbad as a forward-looking, sustainable development, others worry about the “prospect of bikini-clad bathers despoiling a noble site” and tampering with the architecture of a historic site in order to make the Flussbad accessible for all (Kimmelman, 2015). The city must grapple with its ‘civic identity’ and determine whether they want to maintain Museum Island as a place for tourists, or a vibrant public place where people from all walks of life can come together.

The Flussbad serves as a radical re-visioning of what our cities and public places can be, and brings joy and play back into our historic city centers. More importantly, the Flussbad could set an important precedent in how we think about utilizing our polluted waterways and natural resources within cities. By cleaning up a polluted river, the Flussbad can tell an important story about clean water and a sustainable environment and could serve as a model for other cities grappling with similar problems.

Innovative public projects and places serve to reconnect us to one another as KEY LESSONS FROM BERLIN: •

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PLACEMAKING EFFORTS: The Flussbad represents a “commitment by the city to making nature and public recreational space a priority” (Goffin, 2014). Additionally, The Flussbad raises important questions of whom historic city centers are for: tourists or residents? By creating accessible public space, the Flussbad would reenergize a site that is now predominantly for tourists, by bringing residents back to the center.

There are few places around the world in historic city centers that bring people together from all sectors of the population. The creators of the Flussbad envision it as a place where “themes and values of our society such as ecology, sustainability

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Creative restorations of natural features can connect cities back to their local ecology and inspire care for the environment Placemaking within urban tourist districts can reconnect residents to city centers and build cohesion between tourists and longtime residents Placemaking shifts the way residents interact with spaces and the way they view their community

well as to our natural environment.

As more people move to cities, high-quality public spaces become even more critical. Innovative public projects and places serve to reconnect us to one another as well as to our natural environment. The Flussbad holds significant promise to build cohesion amongst Berliners and shift the way residents think about their natural resources.

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INTRODUCTION: In Houston, a public-private partnership between the local government and private foundations has resulted in the development of Discovery Green, a 12 acre public park in the heart of downtown. Throughout the design process, residents and stakeholders were actively engaged, creating a vibrant and multifunctional public place that connects people to downtown and to one another.

OVERVIEW: Downtown Houston has historically been an automobile-centric city, lacking high-quality public places and open green spaces where people can congregate. In 2002, a group of philanthropists approached then-Mayor Bill White with the idea to transform a 12-acre plot of parking lots and underused land into an urban park. While Mayor White agreed to the idea, others were skeptical about citing a park downtown —noting that people do not spend significant leisure time in downtown Houston. Yet Mayor White and others moved forward with the plan, initiating a public-private partnership between the city, private foundations, while also establishing a Conservancy to fundraise, guide the design process and oversee the implementation of the park.

balancing the diverse programming wishes of the city, with the desire to preserve green space. In approving the funding for the park, the city mandated that the design process involve significant public involvement. This public input, as detailed further below has had a profound impact in creating meaningful spaces of engagement within the park, and driven the success of the park.

Discovery Green has “changed the whole perception of downtown living” by reenvisioning downtown as a place not just for work, but for play and joy Discovery Green opened in 2008 and has had a transformative effect on its neighborhood, spurring residential development and “breathing life back into a once forgotten part of Houston” (Silberberg, 2013, 48). Beyond spurring the development of new buildings and amenities however, Discovery Green has “changed the whole perception of downtown living” by re-envisioning downtown as a place not

By 2004, the City contributed 6.4 acres of land as well as $7.9 million, with private foundations kicking in an additional $54 million (Silberberg, 2013, 49).

Within the design and development process, Discovery Green was forced to contend with Burney 12

just for work, but for play and joy (Silberberg, 2015, 50).

PLACE MAKING EFFORTS: As the city approved the funding of the park, they mandated that Discovery Green’s design process involve significant public input and community engagement. Project for Public Spaces, PPS, was brought in to conduct extensive meetings and listening sessions to understand what the community wanted in their large urban park. PPS facilitated a series of meetings and workshops where participants developed broad visions for the park. Additionally, PPS conducted meetings with nearby stakeholders like residents of the neighborhood, representatives of cultural and environmental organizations, the Latino community and youths in order to reveal potential concerns and built rapport in the neighborhood. This process showed the need for increased connectivity to other downtown institutions, frequent and diverse programs, and multifunctional spaces.

“When you are trying to map an unknown place onto people’s consciousness, programming is extremely important,” Jacob Peterson Following public input, Discovery Green implemented a diverse array of programs and design features to

meet the needs of the wide population that the park serves. According to Jacob Peterson, one of the key designers for Discovery Green, “when you are trying to map an unknown place onto people’s consciousness, programming is extremely important” (Silberberg, 2013, 49). To become engrained in the community, the park included a number of features including a lake, a children’s playground, botanical gardens, interactive water features, performance stages, public art installations and a casual café. The park has more than 400 free events every year, drawing over 1 million visitors every year from all across the cities and the surrounding suburbs. Discovery Green has become a vibrant public place in the heart of Downtown Houston, reconnecting residents to the urban center, as well as to one another.

ANALYSIS: In a relatively short period of time, Discovery Green has become a vibrant public place, drawing large crowds right in the heart of Houston. It serves as a testament to the power of parks and public spaces to re-energize urban centers and bring together across difference. Within its plans, Discovery Green has put environmental sustainability at the core, working to harvest building materials from local sources as much as possible, as well as implementing renewable energy and energy efficient systems. Additionally, the transformation of parking lots into a thriving urban park required the complete remediation of a brownfield site, improving the health and wellbeing of nearby residents.

This example in Houston, shows the benefits of centering development around people, and seeking significant public participation in order to ensure that places actually work for people. As the park continues to evolve and grow in popularity, so will the surrounding neighborhood, so initiatives must be undertaken to prevent rapid gentrification and displacement.

KEY LESSONS FROM HOUSTON: • • •

Public-private partnerships can facilitate rapid development of large public places by providing significant investment from financial partners Vibrant public places in desolate urban cores can bring people back to the city center, and spur neighborhood reinvestment Programming plays an important role in engraining public places into people’s daily lives

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INTRODUCTION: In response to rising urban populations, residents in Gurgaon, India have organized a weekly ‘Raahgiri Day’ to reclaim streets for people instead of automobiles. This event highlights the importance of pedestrian-friendly streets and vibrant public places, while also signifying a movement towards designing cities around people.

Fortune 500 Companies (Gulati, 2014). Yet Gurgaon has few sidewalks or bike routes, and the streets have become dangerous for non-automobile users.

OVERVIEW: Rapid urbanization in India is putting the spotlight on equity and access as critical issues within urban planning. 31% of India’s population currently live in cities, while signs of ‘development’ from international funders have favored automobilecentric streets (Jindal, 2013). This trend in development has raised a number of equity issues between those who can and cannot afford automobiles, while also raising significant public health problems. Each year roughly 140,000 deaths occur on Indian streets while an additional 627,526 premature death occur each year in India due to air pollution (Gulati, 2014).

In response to the public health and equity issues around automobiles in India, one city, Gurgaon, a satellite city south of New Delhi, has sought to reclaim streets as places for people. Gurgaon, with a population of 1 million is known as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India, containing more than half of India’s

Raahgiri Day seeks to show the importance of road safety, clean air, physical activity and inclusive development.

A group of community organizations and city agencies in Gurgaon have come together to organize Raahgiri Day, a weekly open streets event, in order to advocate for “streets as Places- as places not just for cars, but also for people” (Gulati, 2014). Raahgiri Day runs from 7:00 am to noon every Sunday, closing roughly 3 miles of major city streets to vehicles, in order to open the streets up to the public.

Each week, pedestrians, cyclists, and runners come together on the street, while others partake in dance classes and music lessons around them.

Raahgiri Day seeks to show the importance of road

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safety, clean air, physical activity and inclusive development while also bringing people together to create vibrant public places.

formal mechanism for interaction between various cross sections of society” (Rahen, 2015, 4). Raahgiri Day gives all residents an opportunity to ‘reclaim their streets’ and connect with their community, no matter their economic or social background.

PLACEMAKING EFFORTS: Raahgiri Day has seen tremendous success in Gurgaon, with thousands of residents joining in each week, and with the event expanding to larger cities like New Delhi. The large turnout expresses a sentiment shared by residents that they do not want to rely only on automobiles for travel, but instead want pedestrian-accessible streets.

ANALYSIS: Since its beginnings in 2013, Raahgiri Day has had a significant impact on the city of Gurgaon, by highlighting the importance of designing cities around people. Raahgiri Day tackles important environmental and social issues in a simple, yet engaging way. By opening streets up to the public, Raahgiri Day shows the promise of people-centric cities to create more sustainable outcomes.

Raahgiri Day gives all residents an opportunity to ‘reclaim their streets’ and connect with their community, no matter their economic or social background.

In implementing Raahgiri Day, the team has implemented a “lighter, quicker, cheaper” approach.

This means that the execution of Raahgiri Day does not cost a significant amount of money for the city, and that participants do not have to bring anything.

The success of this approach in Gurgaon shows that in order for public places to be successful, they do not need to be fancy, they “only need to be human” (Gulati, 2014). This also shows that the more flexible public spaces are, the better they can cater to different audiences and different needs.

Beyond a day for pedestrian-friendly travel, Raahhiri Day represents a powerful shift in urban planning to center design around people. Residents have expressed feeling empowered by the changes brought forward by Raahgiri Day and more enthusiastic about their city. Organizers of the event argue that Raahgiri Day is not just a festival, “it is a movement” towards “long term policy and infrastructural changes to make walking, bicycling, slow moving and socialization a vital and structural part of streets” (Gulati, 2014).

The temporary reclamation of streets through Raahgiri Day, is an accessible and affordable solution for many cities throughout the world who wish to create more public space. It lends significant insight on how we can begin to reorient our cities around people, even without significant funding or policy change up front. Yet Raahgiri Day is a movement to transform the way cities are designed and has important implications for how we empower communities to make long-term shifts toward sustainable and equitable development.

KEY LESSONS FROM GURGAON: •

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Finally, Raahgiri Day connects people across difference. A key goal of Raahgiri Day is to create more inclusive places, citing the problem that “urban areas are becoming very exclusive as there is no Burney 15

Placemaking can take the form of temporary reclamation of space to raise awareness to specific problems within urban areas The more flexible public spaces are, the better they can cater to different audiences and needs Placemaking takes place not just in one space or one event, it represents a longterm movement to orient our cities around people.

LESSONS: Bringing Placemaking to Your City INTRODUCTION: Now that we’ve seen these six examples highlighting the power of placemaking to transform city blocks, neighborhoods, and entire cities, you might be wondering “what would it take to enact placemaking in my city?”

Fundamentally, placemaking is about reorienting cities around people and is about the process of folks coming together to improve the places they call home. To begin to think about how to get started on a project, here are 3 simple lessons to understand (1) the assets that exist in your neighborhood already (2) how to recruit more people to become involved in your organization, and (3) how to develop effective partnerships by telling compelling stories.

Through these simple lessons, you can begin to understand how to select a site to implement your placemaking project, how to recruit more people to your organization, and how to build effective partnerships.

These lessons are by no means complete or exhaustive, but merely a first glimpse to see your own agency in bringing about change in your community.

Placemaking at its core is about building power and democracy for communities. Lessons from community organizing and education shine a light on new ways to expand access to public space. Each of these lessons take an asset-based approach to rely on the expertise already embedded in a community, and build power from within. By asking questions like: what assets does my community have?, who are the leaders in my community?, and how can we bring our vision to reality together?- these lessons not only provide effective tools for specific placemaking projects, but also help empower citizens to be agents of change over the long-term.

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LESSON ONE: Assessing Public Space Key Points: •

• •

•

Placemaking is about creating a place, not a single design. While design is important to our built environment, oftentimes the most successful public places incorporate active uses, economic opportunities and programming with design to attract diverse audiences.

Keep in mind active uses and an evolving meaning of place. For example, rehabilitating a space can lower costs by cutting down on unnecessary landscaping and monuments.

Simple, short-term actions can be a great way to test ideas and empower people to have a stake in creating public places. Actions like planting flowers or painting a mural provide flexibility to expand the space and encourage creative experimentation.

You learn a lot through observing your neighborhood as well as effective public places. Observing a space can show you how different groups use the space.

Exercise: Observing an Effective Public Place in Your City Within Placemaking, Urban Planners and Community Activists talk about the ‘Power of Ten’ for creating vibrant neighborhoods, cities and regions. The Power of Ten is based on the premise that in order for places to become oriented around people, they must have 10 or more things to do. For example, each specific PLACE, like Seattle’s Pike Place Market, needs 10 or more things to do, each DESTINATION, or certain neighborhood, needs 10 or more things to do, and each CITY or REGION needs 10 or more things to do. The figure above shows the city of Chicago and the diversity of programs, activities or uses within each place, destination and region.

In this exercise, go to a specific PLACE in your neighborhood or in your city that you think is an effective public area.

Sit and silently observe this place and consider some of the following questions: • • • • • • • •

How are people moving through the space?

What kinds of activities occur here?

Are people interacting with one another or staying to themselves?

How long are people staying in this place? Are they passing through or spending more time here?

How do you feel sitting in this place?

What kinds of noises do you hear?

How do people access the place? Is it accessible via public transit or do you have to drive here?

What kinds of economic activities are in or around the place?

Write down, sketch or take photos of your observations. If you feel up to it, ask people using the space some of the same questions. Note their responses. Now, following your observations and interviews, see if you can note 10 different activities or uses within the space. Is this space effective? Or maybe, what isn’t effective about this place? What lessons can you gain from this space to apply to another public area?

This exercise is merely meant to get you thinking about existing effective public spaces in your neighborhood or city so you can begin to see the assets laden in your community. Use your observations and notes to think through and brainstorm how you can enact your own placemaking project.

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LESSON TWO: Building a Community Organization Key Points: •

• •

The community is the expert. People who use public space regularly provide the most valuable perspective and insights into how an area functions. They can also help identify issues that are important to consider when improving or changing a space’s function.

You can’t do it alone. To create vibrant public spaces, you will need partners who can contribute new ideas, financial or political support and help lead and execute different activities Identify leaders and community members who share your vision and build support. For example, talk to your local city council person and get him or her engaged

How-to: 1)

Find potential group members • Anyone who is supportive of your campaign is a potential new recruit. Brainstorm where to find those people o Your personal network  Chances are, if you care about it, so do the people you’re close to. o Other groups  Whether or not they work on similar issues, it’s likely that people who are already active in your community might also be interested in what you’re doing. o Strangers  Many people care about high-quality public spaces. Flyering in high-traffic area, and going door to door in your neighborhood is a great way to broaden your network and meet new people.

2) Once you’ve identified who to reach out to, the first ask is to come to your first meeting • For new folks, collecting contact information building a list to recruit from is an important step in building a larger group.

3) Follow up with a phone call to make a personal connection and re-invite them to your first meeting 4) Conduct a meeting to jump start your initiative • Whether you’re starting a new campaign or want to infuse your existing group with new energy and ideas, a kick-off meeting will help you bring in new people.

• Your kick-off meeting should provide context for your campaign and create working groups to focus on different areas of the campaign.

1. Set a date, time and location and start recruiting.

2. Set a turnout goal.

3. Do the math a. Follow the Rule of Halves (or “organizer math”) b. Not everyone who you recruit is going to show up – the best thing to do is plan accordingly. c. If you want 20 people at your first meeting, you’ll need 40 “yeses.”

• Sample agenda for your meeting (1.5 hrs): o Welcome and Introductions (10 minutes) o Overview of Placemaking– Why it matters, Goal for your community (10 minutes) o Breakout into working groups to brainstorm (30 minutes) o Share back to the large group (20 minutes) o Wrap-up and next steps (15 minutes)

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LESSON THREE: Plan Implementation- Developing Partnerships Key Points: •

• •

Money is not the end-all, be-all. Many organizations will blame the lack of funding as an excuse for not taking action on an issue. Funds for public space are usually scarce and those that do exist are typically smaller grants.

It is important to remember the inherent value of public space and develop partnerships with local organizations and politicians to build support for your plan.

The use of good public places change constantly, which means management is critical to its success.

Exercise: The Power of Storytelling Trust-building is the key to any good partnership. But when you’re endeavoring on a new initiative- how do you build that trust and get buy-in from other groups?

In any campaign or initiative, there is a simple and concise story that encapsulates a) the issue you are working to address, b) your proposed solution, and c) why they should support it. These stories vary dependent on the groups you are delivering them to and should be catered to each group’s specific interest so that their participation feels meaningful and authentic.

Before you begin to craft your story or pitch to a certain group, it is critical to determine their self-interest.

For example: if I was working to develop a public play space in my neighborhood, and was working to build the support of the local Audubon chapter, I would want to be sure to mention the environmental and ecological benefits of green space. This takes time and research, so that you can be authentic in building relationships.

Once again, rely on the expertise in your community to determine what would move different groups or individuals to action.

What are some groups in your neighborhood who’s support you would need to enact your placemaking project?

Next, comes the story writing time. There is a simple way to tell a campaign story that has a clear structure and clear steps of engagement for the group whose support you are soliciting. STRUCTURE: Introduction, Problem, Solution, Urgency, Action, Personal. Let’s break that down a little bit, shall we?

• • •

• • •

Introduction: Name, Affiliation, etc.

Problem: The issue you are attempting to address (ex. Lack of safe places for children to play) Solution: Pretty straightforward here- but your solution. May not have a full solution here though because the beauty of placemaking lies in its participatory and democratic nature. (ex. Developing a public play space)/ Urgency: Why they should get involved. Why they should get involved now.

Action: Pitch the group on supporting you. (ex. Come to next meeting, sign our coalition letter to city council, etc).

Personal: Why YOU care about the issue.

Now you try writing a story or pitch to a group who you’d like to develop a partnership with in your community. Remember to make it personal to them, and be sure to keep it authentic. This frame is certainly not the only way to solicit support from organizations or politicians, but this is a helpful tool to think through how to move different groups to action and begin to develop solid relationships.

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Davila, J. (2013, March). Going up in Medellin: What can we learn from the city’s aerial cable-car lines? Retrieved November 22, 2015. University College London Development Planning Unit.

Delach, K. (2012, August 7). Penn Study Finds with Vacant Lots Greened, Residents Feel Safer. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/08/vacant/ Discovery Green. (n.d.). History of Discovery Green. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from http://www.discoverygreen.com/history-of-discovery-green Flussbad Berlin. (n.d.) Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://www.flussbad-berlin.de/de/web/internet/projekt Goffin, P. (2014, October 28). Public works: creating a natural swimming pool in the heart of Berlin. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://torontoist.com/2014/10/public-works-creating-a-natural-swimming-pool-in-the-heart-ofberlin/ Gulati, N. (2014, November 7). “Sweet rebellion”: Reclaiming India’s streets with Raahgiri Day. Retrieved December 6, 2015 from http://www.pps.org/blog/sweet-rebellion-reclaiming-indias-streets-with-raahgiri-day/ Jindal, K. (2013, December 17). Raahgiri Day spotlights non-motorized mobility in India. Retrieved December 6, 2015 from http://thecityfix.com/blog/raahgiri-day-spotlights-non-motorized-mobility-gurgaon-india-kanika-jindal/ Jones, S. (2014, March 4). The dangers of gentrification. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://axisphilly.org/article/thedangers-of-gentrification/ Joseph, C. (2014, August 26). Medellin Metrocable improves mobility for residents of informal settlements. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://thecityfix.com/blog/medellin-metrocable-improves-mobility-informalsettlements-low-income-accessibililty-equity-development-coby-joseph/ Kimmelman, M. (2015, October 11). The Flussbad plan in Berlin reimagines a canal for the people. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/arts/design/the-flussbad-plan-in-berlin-reimagines-a-canal-forthe-people.html?_r=1 Lily Yeh - Project for Public Spaces. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.pps.org/reference/lyeh/ Mitchell, B. (2014, October 21). Flussbad Berlin wants to build an enormous natural swimming pool in the city’s river.

Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://inhabitat.com/flussbad-berlin-wants-to-build-an-enormous-naturalswimming-pool-in-the-citys-river/ O’Sullivan, F. (2014, October 20). Berlin wants to build a pool in the middle of the city’s river. Retriever November 22, 2015 from http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/10/berlin-wants-to-build-a-pool-in-the-middle-of-the-citysriver/381670/ Project for Public Spaces. (n.d.). Discovery Green: Houston’s backyard. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from http://www.pps.org/projects/houstonpark/ Project for Public Spaces (n.d.). Ten strategies for transforming cities and public spaces through placemaking. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://www.pps.org/reference/ten-strategies-for-transforming-cities-throughplacemaking-public-spaces/ Rahen, A. (2015, July). Raahgiri Day. Retrieved December 6, 2015. Raahgiri Day. Silberberg, S. (2013). Places in the making: how placemaking builds places and communities. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Silberberg, S. (2013). Places in the making: how placemaking builds places and communities. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Sustainable Cities Collective. (2015, January 29). The many advantages of urban cable car like Medellin’s Metrocable.

Retrieved November 22, 2015 from http://www.sustainablecitiescollective.com/embarq/1040726/mobilitysolutions-marginalized-communities-urban-cable-car The Village of Arts & Humanities. (2012, September 10). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://barefootartists.org/projects/village/

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