Placemaking Week 2024

Community-first. Human-centered. Neighborhood-based. Civically-oriented. Equitable and just. These are the ideals of “design centers” all over the country, so it is not surprising when they are often the organizations that are rooted in local placemaking efforts. Design centers can be under local planning departments or integrated into university architecture programs. In many instances, design centers are non-profits that collaborate across sectors to lead research and urban design solutions with their communities. Many design centers’ origins were a response to the civil rights movement, urban renewal and sprawl. In this same vein, they were established to challenge formulaic planning and encourage more public dialogue on design. While design centers exist in many forms, equitable community engagement is their great unifying value. America is a vast country where the unique history, culture, and people in local municipalities will always call for place-based experts on projects. Design centers are trusted partners in local communities who build connections with stakeholders to deeply investigate how built environment changes can serve them. In this panel, attendees will hear stories from leaders of organizations who have been working towards reclaiming public space as a response to poor midcentury planning decisions. The panel will discuss large-scale highway capping concepts, saving pocket parks, coalition building for revitalization, tactical urbanism, and more community-first infrastructure. By learning about how design centers got started and continue to work with communities, the outcome of this talk will inspire other placemaking leaders to engage with national peers to replicate successful work. Even further, these collaborations could help other communities kick-start the implementation of their own design center. Due to the collaborative nature of design centers, this session will be valuable for placemaking professionals across sectors interested in engaging with their community to implement successful projects.