PPS has over 35 years of experience in the programming, design and management of public spaces. Our services include quick impact workshops; in-depth planning for spaces; planning on a district or city wide basis; training and educational programs; and research concerning public space use. What sets us apart from traditional planning efforts is our place-based, community driven approach, which is not only grounded in years of research but also geared toward empowering people to develop a unique vision for their public spaces.
For PPS services tailored to specific public spaces—parks, streets, markets, waterfronts, etc., more detailed information can be found via the links at the top of the page.
Project Services
See a description of our process for all project services.
Quick Impact Workshops
Jump start your placemaking project with a one- to three-day intensive site visit including PPS presentations and a community workshop.
Placemaking Plans
Develop a placemaking vision and activation plan that focuses on both design and management actions needed to revitalize a specific public space.
Community-Wide Placemaking Plans
Launch a city- or district-wide placemaking program using the “Power of 10” as the guiding framework.
Training and Educational Services
Training
New York City Training Programs: Our popular training programs– How to Turn a Place Around, Streets as Places, How to Create Successful Markets–are each held twice annually.
Customized Training Programs: Work with PPS to develop a customized training program focused around specific issues in your community or organization. For example, recently PPS has developed customized workshops for the Community Redevelopment Agency in Los Angeles and the City of Regina, Saskatchewan, among others.
Presentations and Conferences
PPS’ staff would be delighted to speak at your event. Our staff has expertise in a variety of public space issues related to Placemaking and how it can be used to create more livable towns and cities. We also partner with organizations on conferences or forums, and have organized several major conferences on public markets and urban parks.
Research
PPS has conducted research on many different types of public spaces, with partners including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Columbia University, and the Federal Transit Administration. We also collaborate with academic institutions to do research about specific issues related to the use of public spaces.
Publications
Work with PPS to prepare customized Placemaking reports focusing on your community or organization’s mission. Recent custom publications include a transportation series with AARP and a Guide to Placemaking in Chicago, produced in collaboration with the Metropolitan Planning Council. PPS has also produced more than thirty publications, most of which are available in our store, related to a wide variety of public space issues.
Project Services: Our Process
To prepare our Placemaking Plans, we follow the following four steps presented below. Communities often choose Quick Impact Workshops as a way to get started, using the momentum of public support as a way to launch a more in depth planning process:
1. Identifying Problems
PPS works with communities to identify critical issues and problems, whether the issue is retrofitting existing public spaces or envisioning and shaping new places. True to our roots working with William “Holly” Whyte over 35 years ago, PPS starts by working with communities to understand how a space is used, or could be used. Typically, this involves observations, extensive stakeholder interviews and a Placemaking workshop where participants work in teams to evaluate a public space using PPS’s “Place Game.” For more in-depth projects where a community is seeking to retrofit an existing space, we conduct surveys, time-lapse filming and structured observations to develop a comprehensive functional understanding about how a public space currently works – or doesn’t work — for the people using it.
2. Developing the Vision
Even the worst place can turn into a great one if the local community shares a compelling vision for its future. That’s why PPS facilitates a community-based visioning process that engages a full range of local stakeholders. We bring people with diverse ideas into dialogue in an inclusive process that produces high-quality, workable recommendations with big impacts. In this visioning process, which also is a component of the Placemaking workshop, PPS draws from its knowledge and experience with public spaces all over the world, showing what makes some public spaces succeed in attracting public use while others fail. The visioning process builds momentum for bold ideas and sets the stage for ongoing collaboration between stakeholders.
PPS also engages the broader community through a variety of digitally based Placemaking tools including online and mail surveys, social networking and project discussion forums. Customized websites can also be created to communicate project information, workshop notes, proposals for improvements and links to relevant articles and case studies on the PPS web site.
Based on all of this input, PPS develops a program of uses, which we then translate into a concept design plan, presentation and report that summarizes the findings of the study, improvement opportunities and an overall implementation strategy.
3. Making it Happen
PPS’s implementation plans provide a road map from taking a Placemaking project from concept to completion. We often start this process by recommending a range of short-term, inexpensive experiments that also build credibility by proving change can happen. Successful demonstrations draw in additional partners and financial support for the long-term changes to come. To protect the integrity of the community’s ideas, we work with the project team from design development to production of construction documents, ensuring that concepts generated by the community are maintained. Specifically, we advise on how to translate the design program into a realistic and functional design plan that works for people from the day it opens.
4. Sustaining Excellence
At PPS, we tell our clients, “You are never finished,” because great places rely on skillful, ongoing management even more than thoughtful design. Drawing from our extensive research and experience with public/private partnerships and management organizations, we develop a strategic model for management and operations that’s right for everyone.