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PPS's program to build parks, plazas and central squares as community places PPS is building livable communities through placemaking around transit stops and context sensitive design of streets PPS is transforming public buildings and civic institutions from isolated design objects to centers of community life. Building strong economic, civic and cultural environments through development of public markets and local business.

Fred Kent
President

Kathy Madden
Vice President

Steve Davies
Vice President

Philip Myrick
Assistant Vice President

Cynthia Nikitin
Assistant Vice President

 

©2001, Project for Public
Spaces Inc.
153 Waverly Place, 4th Floor
New York, NY, 10014
Tel.: (212) 620.5660
Fax: (212) 620.3821
E-mail: pps@pps.org

ABOUT PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Affection is a good indicator of a healthy public space.PPS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities. We provide technical assistance, education, and research through programs in parks, plazas and central squares; buildings and civic architecture; transportation; and public markets. Since our founding in 1975, we have worked in over 1,000 communities in the United States and around the world, helping people to grow their public spaces into vital community places.


IMPROVING PUBLIC SPACES THROUGH PLACEMAKING

William H. Whyte taught us how to understand public spaces through observationOur multi-faceted "placemaking" approach to planning and design is rooted in the communities we serve and the places that are important to them. Building on the techniques from William H. Whyte's ground-breaking Street Life Project, it involves looking at, listening to and asking questions of the people in a community to discover their needs and aspirations.

We work with them to create a vision around the places that they view as important to community life and to their daily experience. Then we help them to implement their ideas, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements that can be phased in quickly and immediately begin bringing benefits to a community.

Social interaction that contributes to the life of great public spaces could be considered loitering in bad ones!One key to this process is reaching out to people - including those who might not otherwise participate in an improvement effort - where they live, work and congregate. We use systematic on-site observations, time-lapse filming, and customized interviews and surveys to gather people's input and document and analyze their activities.

Our process also utilizes placemaking workshops, facilitated public forums, and other types of meetings and partnerships to give people an opportunity from the outset to identify issues, contribute ideas, and make decisions about improvements that can address their concerns. Using this multifaceted approach, we are able to help people enhance the places where they live and work, and rebuild communities both in spirit and as places.


BUILDING A PLACEMAKING MOVEMENT

Besides our work in communities, PPS' placemaking mission is reinforced through a membership program and a host of other initiatives, resources, and activities. These include:

Our growing schedule of "How to Turn a Place Around" workshops; a history of producing national and international conferences that bring together experts and innovators in urban parks and public markets; and a training course that shows traffic engineers how to think "beyond the pavement" to the role that streets and roads can play in enhancing communities.

In addition to a range of publications, our web-based Urban Parks and Better Buildings resource centers and image database help people transform public spaces into true community places.

Finally, our Great Public Spaces website, the Great Public Spaces Awards, and our family of listserves nurture a growing community of people who, like us, are committed to placemaking in their professions and their communities.

Subscribe to
our Making Places newsletter

Join the placemaking movement

Planning & Other Services

Workshops

Publications

Listserves

Project Experience

Press Clips

Staff

Facts & Figures

PPS has worked in 1,000 neighborhoods, 46 states & 12 countries

Some 10,000 people attend our 250+ presentations and workshops annually

Our staff have written and published more 50 books and articles

"How to Turn a Place Around," PPS' handbook for creating successful public spaces, has sold over 3,000 copies and is in its 3rd printing

We have taken 600,000 photographs of public spaces around the world - many of which are available online

Our family of websites attract over 1 million page views a year

PPS Initiatives

Urban Parks Institute
Public Market Collaborative
Transportation & Livable Communities Consortium
Czech PPS

 

 
Contact Us | Online Store
Copyright © 2001 Project for Public Spaces, Inc.
153 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10014
Problems? Questions? Comments? Email us: pps@pps.org