Placemaking Week 2024

Waterfront revivals have often depended on major capital investments, but these mega projects are not a silver bullet. We can all think of a revitalized waterfront we’ve visited that was missing something, that felt at once like a citywide asset and also nobody’s neighborhood.  Placemaking can help urban waterfronts thrive. Not only because it ushers in human-scale programming, but also because it engages more people in experiencing and caring about their waterfront. For cities looking at the next phase of revitalization ahead - climate change adaptation to the tune of billions of dollars - this becomes an urgent task.  San Francisco is a case study: the City’s waterfront hosts impressive amenities and destinations. But, despite big physical improvements over decades, including the removal of a freeway cutting it off from town, it still feels separate and underutilized. The lack of workers downtown poses an additional challenge.  Now, SF’s waterfront must be transformed through a multi-billion dollar project to protect against sea level rise. This project will require an immense amount of vision and public support. Recognizing this, the SF Port is undertaking a placemaking initiative to engage residents in the waterfront resilience project from its early stages. The initiative uses participatory public art and activation to draw people to the waterfront and will proactively engage the low-income communities who live close to it. The team is using a co-creation approach: one that invites an expansive cast of public and private actors to collaborate in transforming this vital urban space, cultivating a diverse constituency of stewards in the process.  Modeling the co-creation approach, this workshop will use SF Port’s emerging program as a living case study. Through fast-paced exercises, participants will contribute ideas to SF Port’s project and explore applications of key strategies in their own city.