The priority given to place and public space in the New Urban Agenda, an international agreement on cities that will be finalized at the Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador this week, marks an important shift for the global development community. But this document is still playing catch-up to how communities and placemakers are mobilizing on this issue.
This article explores the problems and possibilities of architecture today, and particularly how our systems of development and planning create the everyday urban fabric. How can we rejig our city building machinery to produce the city we want?
This is the introduction to a series of blog posts exploring how so many issues affecting cities around the world converge in our public spaces.
The Bass Initiative on Innovation and Placemaking has challenged me to observe closely and think deeply about the connections between the innovation economy, social dynamics, and the built environment.
As a Torontonian at heart, I’m always looking for opportunities to bring the stories of Toronto’s amazing accomplishments in city building to a broader audience. So in this article I drill down on the city’s Neighborhood Planning Offices, storefront workspaces that aimed to make city planning more accountable, convenient, accessible and responsive to communities.
After getting a hot tip from one of our project staff at PPS, I followed up with some city staff in Innisfil, Ontario about their efforts to reform their governance structure and democratize their planning process. Head on over to the PPS blog to read the full article!
A few weeks ago, I began a new position at the Project for Public Spaces as a Communications Associate. As such, most of my writing will be appearing on the PPS blog, rather than here.