News from PPS
A tale of two places: Gyumri, Armenia and Omaha, Nebraska

Two cities on opposite sides of the globe are taking placemaking to new heights. In Gyumri, Armenia, a community workshop led by Phil Myrick of PPS spurred a successful reinvigoration of the town's central squares. (Click here for more on this story from the September issue of Making Places.) And in Omaha, PPS's local partner, Lively Omaha, has initiated an enthusiastic grassroots campaign to create more great public spaces in the city.

Placemaking comes to Armenia

The New Gyumri Festival and Placemaking Expo, which took place in the town's Freedom Square and All Savior's Square the weekend of September 26-28, demonstrated the power of layered uses to completely revive a moribund space. The legacy of the Soviet era and a devastating 1988 earthquake combined to leave these two squares almost completely lifeless, but on the first day of the festival, they were mobbed with people taking part in various activities: enjoying a cup of coffee or beer in one of the cafes, watching the performances on the large outdoor stage, or shopping in the open air market. Attendance estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000 for peak times, and around 15,000 people attended during the full three days. The turnout was extraordinary considering that Gyumri has a population of only 150,000.

Gyumri's Freedom Square before and during the placemaking event

Here are a few glimpses of what went on:

• To demonstrate new street and playground furniture, the Magnon Company of Gyumri contributed a park bench, seesaw, and street lamp. These were put in an isolated corner of Freedom square. Much to everyone's surprise, this little corner was in constant use and kids never stopped using the seesaw. By mid-afternoon on Saturday, street vendors had set up tables next to the park bench to sell cakes, pastries and clothing. This attracted even more people to a previously empty space in a large expanse of asphalt.



• The YMCA and the New Generation youth NGOs used umbrellas and old cassette tapes to fence off a large area for rollerskating and skateboarding. They designed ramps using rubber tires and scrap plywood. Both NGOs brought in some exercise mats for the kids to use while waiting their turns. Parents were delighted to see their kids trying their luck at rollerskating or skateboarding for the first time.



• The four cafes ringing the stage in Freedom Square were so busy that it was impossible to find even one vacant seat. Even the cafes on the outer rim of the squares were doing a brisk business and by the end of the day on Saturday a wide assortment of street vendors had joined the cafes to keep up with demand.



• The market was also swamped by merchants selling shoes and clothing all by Gyumri manufacturers. The hottest selling items were children's clothes and socks. As other merchants saw what was happening, the market took off on its own. Such an arts market had been tried in Gyumri's central squares before, but failed. To succeed, there had to be triangulation -- several different but complementary activities going on simultaneously.



• All day on Saturday a group of young artists were busy painting "Nor Gyumri Festival 2003" in large letters on the pavement around the fountains in Savior Square. Many people came to watch and talk with them.



• The Church of the Seven Wounds of Christ held religious services throughout the event. The church was packed with people.

Special thanks to the Academy for Educational Development for on-the-street details from the placemaking event in Gyumri.

Placemaking Omaha Style

Meanwhile, ten time zones to the west, Lively Omaha and PPS are involving citizens in remaking the city's public space. Launched by the Omaha Community Foundation in 2001, Lively Omaha first worked with PPS to develop a riverfront improvement plan later that same year.

Since then, Lively Omaha has recruited and trained 22 volunteer facilitators to use PPS's Place Performance Evaluation Game (Place Game for short). They have conducted 23 workshops involving over 1000 citizen participants, who have put forth literally thousands of ways to improve their public spaces.

Working closely with neighborhood and civic organizations, such as the Cultural Arts District Committee and the Old Market Business Association, the facilitators have evaluated areas all over Omaha, from dense mixed-use urban districts to small suburban parks to a college campus. Lively Omaha has also developed a unique variation on the Place Game called the Event Game, which they used to evaluate a summer festival and farmers market earlier this year.

Lively Omaha posts all the evaluations on their website, which was developed with the assistance of PPS. Every evaluation page includes the central issues discussed, each team's suggestions, potential local partners and images that illustrate the recommendations. The website also features a Public Art section, updates on public space issues, and a Monthly Photo page to keep local stakeholders and the general public abreast of news and events.

The cumulative effect of Lively Omaha's efforts has been enormous and the excitement is growing. The latest project, Omaha By Design, is a comprehensive urban design study that will strengthen the design standards identified in the City's Master Plan, including environmental, civic and neighborhood development.

Three components are included in the project: Green Omaha focuses on natural and historic assets; Civic Omaha addresses civic improvement and design guidelines; and Neighborhood Omaha enhances and reinforces the character of Omaha's neighborhoods.

Lively Omaha's work with influential partners and community members continues to transform the city through placemaking.