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A visit to Project for Public Spaces in New York City: "Start with the Petunias"

8/23/2014

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On a recent visit to New York City, we had the chance to meet with Fred Kent and Kathy Madden, the founders of Project for Public Spaces. Founded in 1975, PPS builds upon the work of William (Holly) Whyte, the author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, and takes a human-centered, community-focused approach to placemaking. As Fred explained, "We are community agents and change makers", which was readily apparent in  PPS's portfolio of creating better places in over 3000 communities in 43 countries.

PPS has developed a set of analytical tools to allow communities to evaluate the quality of their public spaces and come up with useable recommendations. Their toolkit includes the "Place Diagram"-- which assesses the quality of public spaces by four qualities: accessibility, activities, comfit, and sociability-- as well as the "Power of 10", the idea of creating at least ten different uses or reasons for people to gather at a particular space. Kathy was kind enough to gift us the PPS Handbook on  "How to Turn a Place Around", and we highly recommend this informative resource to our students and colleagues.

Among the "11 Principles for Creating Great Community Places", I have to say that I was particularly drawn to #6: Start with the Petunias: Lighter, Cheaper, Quicker. There is something refreshing and honest about trying something out and observing the results immediately, and tweaking the result as necessary, rather than spending months or years talking about something without seeing anything come to fruition. The notion of petunias was described in the handbook as such:
In creating or changing a public space, small improvements help to gardner support along the way to the end result. They indicate visible change and show that someone is in charge. Petunias, which are low cost and easy to plant, have an immediate visible impact. On the other hand, once planted, they must be watered and cared for. Therefore, these flowers give a clear message that someone must be looking after the space.
Thank you PPS for the illuminating visit, and we look forward to collaborating with you in the Fall.

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Preparing for Beijing - Teleconference

8/11/2014

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Members of the International Urbanization Seminar participated in a pre-trip teleconference this afternoon. We were variously based in Shanghai, San Francisco, Taipei, Palo Alto and Los Angeles. It was great to see so many smiling faces together in the same "room" again!

We discussed trip logistics, ranging from banking to electronics and chargers to tunneling through the Great Firewall of China. Students are also pumped to put together their pre-trip video blogs.

We look forward to seeing everyone in person in Beijing. Less than 1 month to go—exciting!

—KH
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Join an International Sustainability Adventure!

8/5/2014

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Passionate about ...

     Enhancing Sustainability          Sparking Economic Vitality

                  Protecting Cultural Heritage                    Promoting Social Equity


                                                                                                                       ... in the world's fastest-growing cities?


Air and water quality. Resource consumption. Energy and transportation infrastructure. As the planet's urban population mushrooms to 6 billion out of 9 billion people by 2050, the sustainable development of cities—responsible for up to 70% of carbon emissions today—presents a major challenge.

We know you're up to the task!

This fall, join a unique experience studying urbanization and the environment, with a focus on China, home to some of the world's fastest-growing cities. Students will have a unique opportunity to collaborate with faculty and students from Tsinghua University in Beijing on urban sustainability projects.

Autumn 2014: International Urbanization Seminar - China
URBANST145 / EARTHSYS138 / IPS274

  • Investigate cities in China and the United States, the world's two largest economies (and biggest emitters of greenhouse gases)
  • Explore strategies for sustainable urban development
  • Collaborate on real-world international design projects with Chinese faculty and students
  • Engage in hands-on urban laboratories and field trips in San Francisco and Bay Area communities
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Visit internationalurbanization.org for more info
Application due 11:59PM Friday, August 15, 2014



Download the course announcement flyer here:
Autumn_2014_Announcement
File Size: 316 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

—KH
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    Cities + Spaces

    Documenting the process of cross-cultural design and collaboration for sustainable development.

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