GREAT PUBLIC SPACES: Jardin Des Plantes (Paris, France)
What: A park with rose gardens and a greenhouse. Why it Works: Located in the culturally stimulating Latin Quarter of Paris, Jardin des Plantes is a hidden gem of a park, containing a spacious and...
View ArticleTen Great Movies for Placemakers
Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" beautifully illustrates the mix of uses and resulting social vibrancy at Paris' now-demolished Gare Montparnasse / Photo: Paramount Pictures When you’re watching a movie, how...
View ArticleMore Great Movies for Placemakers
An iconic scene from Woody Allen's 1979 classic "Manhattan" According to the @UrbanismAvenger, interviewed recently by The Atlantic Cities editor Sommer Mathis, “There are ALWAYS urbanist themes in...
View ArticleWhat Makes a Great Public Destination? Is it Possible to Build One Where You...
How do you create a magnetic public destination like Luxembourg Gardens? Read on! / Photo: PPS In a recent blog post, entrepreneur-turned-VC Mark Suster wrote about the necessary ingredients for a city...
View ArticleBetween Walking and Wandering, Power in Presence
Walking and wandering are two very different things. Walking is functional; it is merely the act of getting from A to B on our own two legs. But when we wander, it is the journey–not the...
View ArticleTaking the Next Step: Paris Leads With Innovation in the Streets
The Paris Plages initiative has transformed a former roadway along the Seine in central Paris into a vast urban playground / Photo: Fred Kent The following is a guest post by Stephane Kirkland, author...
View ArticleBest of the Blog: Top 13 Posts of 2013
It’s been a very exciting year here at PPS, and the Placemaking Blog has been there to document the many high points and new ideas that have marked the past twelve months. Below, we’ve put together a...
View ArticlePlacemaking in Paris: How Politics Changed the Parisian Landscape
PPS has been learning from and advocating for better public spaces in Paris, a city that has quietly done more than any other in recent decades to increase livability. Around the time that Delanoë...
View ArticleShared Space and Slow Zones: Comparing Public Space in Paris and New York
Every day, high-density global cities are home to millions of pedestrians in their streets. Paradoxically though, many streets and transportation policies have placed more space and importance on cars...
View ArticlePlacemaking News Roundup: The Top 10 Posts of 2014
Happy Holidays from our family to yours! | Image via Instagram Last year saw quite a few exciting developments here at the PPS office. Not only did we give the website an overhaul and add Instagram to...
View ArticleLessons from Paris
By Juliette Michaelson Over the course of the 20th century, Paris, like many cities, fell victim to the ever-growing presence of the automobile. Unlike many other cities, however, Paris has embarked on...
View ArticlePPS names ten must-see places of Paris
Paris — Project for Public Spaces (PPS), the internationally recognized expert in discovering great urban places, offers a list of 10 spots you won’t want to miss on any visit to Paris. Leave the...
View ArticleCritical Issues: Streets
Paris’s street pattern — avenues radiating from destinations and intersecting at odd angles as one radial pattern confronts another — makes the city interesting to explore (and difficult to know...
View ArticleParis: The Comfortable City
Paris is known as the city of lovers for good reason. People display affection for each other when they feel comfortable in their surroundings, and we always see a lot of romantic affection in Paris....
View ArticleCase Studies: Buildings
GREAT PUBLIC SPACES Hotel de Ville We are always wonderfully surprised by what we find happening in front of the Hotel de Ville, Paris’s city hall. No other city hall plaza comes close to this one. We...
View ArticleCritical Issues: Parks
Overall, Paris probably has the best parks of any city in the world. There are a great number of different types and sizes of parks, located in neighborhoods throughout the city. But their success is...
View ArticleCritical Issues: Buildings
A great city shapes itself around its public buildings, as the spaces around those buildings become the city’s central gathering places. Cities all over the world try to elevate themselves with the...
View ArticleCase Studies: Parks
GREAT PUBLIC SPACES Luxembourg Gardens The real marvel of Luxembourg Gardens is the extensive variety of ways you can use the park and how these uses complement (or triangulate with) other activities....
View ArticleCase Studies: Streets
GREAT PUBLIC SPACES Rue de Buci This street is a place where tourists and residents converge. It’s not long, but is packed with wonderful uses. The produce stands and flower stalls, along with the...
View ArticleParis: Reader Reactions
Thank you to all the readers who sent in comments about the Paris Commentary. We are pleased to reprint a sample of the correspondence we received below. If you have something to add, please send us...
View ArticleWhere is Paris Headed?
Unfortunately, Paris’s thoughtful small touches are often negated by large-scale transgressions: vehicular traffic that dominates major neighborhoods; name-brand designers who seek international...
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