Placemaking:
The Year in Review

2003 was a pivotal year for PPS -- a year in which our placemaking approach was embraced by the cities where we worked, the professionals we trained, and the people we reached through our expanding online resources.

In 2003 our work had tangible impacts from city streets to the hallways of academia, and we can feel the momentum growing stronger. We wanted to share our accomplishments with you, and encourage you to take part in the exciting effort to create great public spaces through community-driven design. Read on to learn about the growing placemaking movement, the shift within design professions to emphasize community places over high-profile designs, and the ways placemaking is contributing to community development. See how our projects are yielding results by creating livelier parks, safer streets, and revitalized downtowns.

We've filled this issue of Making Places with links to articles, reports, and website features from the past year. Feel free to click around--it's the best way to get the full value from our annual review. We hope you find it enlightening, and that you'll join us in our efforts.

Next page: The Placemaking Movement