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Governing Magazine - Placemaker Profile: Allan Jacobs
Campus Martius
Detroit, MI
Contributed by Project for Public Spaces
This new civic square has brought life back downtown Detroit.
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Why It Works
The recent transformation of the main intersection in downtown Detroit into a spectacular civic square is one of the great stories of urban regeneration in America. This city-defining move, undertaken by the non-profit Detroit 300, would have been remarkable anywhere, but in Detroit--which is beset by more problems than any major city in North America--it was particularly daring and exceptional. Using Campus Martius to redefine the downtown around a central square was ingenious precisely because most other cities would have gone a different route, like building a costly development project. Instead, Detroit chose this modest but revolutionary way to start with the city center.
Related Links:
- PPS Project Experience - PPS developed the vision plan for the new Campus Martius
- Magic in the Motor City - Making Places, December 2005
User Comments:
- 12/19/05 Tomo Huynh said:
- I see the park full of ice skaters every time I go out to the nearby clubs. The Hard Rock Cafe which you can see attracts long lines most evenings and the Compuware headquarters, pictured at the top, brings thousands of workers during the day. I believe it's also one of the few places in this country where you can play a game of petanque regularly, weather permitting. Nearby Hart Plaza, while along the river (and along an international border with Windsor) is simply too segregated from the rest of downtown. CM provides a better space for smaller public events as well as larger ones when greenspace in the Woodward median connecting this park to Hart Plaza is included.
- 12/19/05 Jon Zemke said:
- Everytime I look out of my apartment window, the first place I check out is Campus Martius. Something is always going on there, ranging from ice skaters to concerts to just people relaxing and having lunch. The main fountian is always performing complex water shows day and night. The artwork in it is eye catching. And it is always immaculate. There's no better place pull up a chair and read in the shade during the summer or walk through and feel warm in during the winter. All big cities should have something this cool.
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