2. 2
Join our online community by sharing photos and experiences from the conference.
Use #PlacemakingWeek on Twitter and Instagram.
3. We are thrilled to welcome each of you to the Placemaking Leadership Forum,
and are honored to be alongside such an esteemed international community
of placemakers. Where better to come together than Vancouver, a city whose
celebrated quality of life stems from its far-sighted commitment to fostering
vibrant, walkable neighborhoods and public destinations.
Whether we’re looking at public health, economic diversity, social inclusion, environ-
mental resilience, or cultural dynamism, place always matters. The Placemaking Lead-
ership Forum is about community leaders coming together to best leverage the conver-
gences that happen when each of these fields and disciplines puts place first.
Now is the time to speak loudly, for there is much at stake. A month from now, world
leaders will gather in Quito for Habitat III to determine the course of urbanization for
the next generation. Over the past three years, PPS, with many crucial partners including
UN-Habitat and the Ax:son Johnson Foundation, has been advocating for the centrality
of public space and placemaking in the global campaigns for a New Urban Agenda. To-
gether, we’ve been successful in ensuring that the new Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), and the results of COP21, reflect this place-led approach.
But our advocacy is far from over. In fact, it’s only just begun.
Every one of us knows first-hand the impacts that great placemaking can have on the
success and sustainability of our cities and communities. Let’s take advantage of this
powerful opportunity to learn from each other and build an agenda for making it happen.
Thank you for joining us, and for being a vital part of this movement.
Fred Kent, President and Founder, Project for Public Spaces
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
WELCOME
3
4. 4
Registration Open
Happy Streets Living Labs
A psycho-physiological walking tour of urban environments near the conference
venue, testing your physical and emotional response to the city. Hosted by Happy
City Lab, Urban Realities Laboratory, the City of Vancouver and MODUS. Offered
again at 1:30pm and 3:15pm; RSVP required.
Location: Meet at Gulf Islands A, Sheraton Wall Centre
City Conversations: Vancouver’s Spectacular Waterfront Opportunity
A tour and talk exploring the potential redevelopment of the Waterfront Station area,
a transportation hub for the entire Lower Mainland hampered by inadequate facilities
and few vital public spaces. Hosted by SFU City Conversations. RSVP required.
Walking Tour
Tour Leaders: Graham McGarva, VIA Architecture (Vancouver, BC); Steve Brown,
City of Vancouver (Vancouver, BC); Tom Phipps & Michael Alexander, Members,
Downtown Waterfront Working Group (Vancouver, BC)
Location: Meet at Olympic Torch in Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver, BC
Conversation
Speakers: Darren Davis, Auckland Transport (Auckland, New Zealand); Lance
Berelowitz, Urban Forum Associates (Vancouver, BC); Rico Quirindongo, DLR
Group (Seattle, WA)
Location: SFU Harbour Centre (Room 1700), 515 W. Hastings St, Vancouver, BC
Tour: City-Building: East False Creek
Tour Leader: Trevor Boddy, architecture critic & urbanist (Vancouver, BC)
A tour of eastern False Creek including the legacy of EXPO 86; Concord Pacific
Developments and the rise of ‘Vancouverism’; City Gate and False Creek Flats; 2010
Winter Olympics Athlete’s Village; the ‘fake wilderness’ park, Vancouver’s most
popular green space; and an optional pint at Tap and Barrel. RSVP required.
Location: Meet at Concord Pacific Sales Centre, 88 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver, BC
Future of Places: Practitioner Short Talks (4 Themes)
7am–5pm
9:30–11am
10–11:30am
12:30–1:30pm
2–4pm
2–3:30pm
Measuring Impact
Frith Walker, Panaku Development (Auckland,
New Zealand); Emma Chow, Deloitte Consulting
(Boston, MA); Joshua Clements (City of Altoona, WI);
Jummin Song, University of Warick (Coventry, UK);
Melody Warnick, author of This Is Where You Belong
(Blacksburg, VA)
Room: Junior D
Lighter Quicker Cheaper
Amy Levner, KaBOOM (Washington, DC); Alison Rajah
& Steve DiPasquale, Surrey Art Gallery (Surrey, BC);
Lisbeth Iversen, University of Bergen (Bergen, Norway);
John Bela, Gehl Studio (San Francisco, CA); Jose
Chong, World Bank (Washington, DC); Mariana Alegre,
Ocupa tu Calle (Lima, Peru)
Room: Pavilion D
PRE-FORUM SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, SEPT 14
5. See pages 22–23 for maps of all rooms and locations.
Transformative Agenda Crowdsourcing Session
An opportunity to meet like-minded placemakers, and weigh in on the ten issue
areas—from equity to sustainability—where placemaking can make the greatest
difference. See pages 12–21 for more information on each issue.
Room: Parksville
Equity in Creating Public Space: An Intersectional Lens on Cities
Presenters: Ellen Woodsworth, Women Transforming Cities International
(Vancouver, BC); Nathaniel Canuel, Up With Hope (Vancouver, BC); Lucinda
Hartley, CoDesign Studio (Melbourne, Australia)
A workshop highlighting global best practices in policy and programmes addressing
equity and inclusion in public space. Representatives from the First Nations, Lesbian,
Gay, Transgender, Bisexual, Queer, Intersex, Two Spirit (LGTQI2), and youth living in
informal settlements will present the work they are doing in this field in Canada and
in Kenya. Hosted by UN-Habitat.
Room: Pavilion D
Digital Placemaking: An Emerging 21st-Century Community of Practice
Moderator: Daniel Latorre, PPS, Digital Placemaking Institute (New York, NY)
Panelists: Cath Carver, Colour Your City (London, UK); Glenn Harding, UrbanScreens
(Melbourne, Australia); Karen Quinn Fung, Vancouver Public Space Network
(Vancouver, BC); Lou Huang, Street Mix, CartoDB (New York, NY); Teeko Yang,
Northern Spark (Minneapolis, MN); Yuri Aritbase, Strong Towns (Vancouver, BC)
Leading placemaking in the 21st century has to include how to wisely use technology
in authentic ways that reinforce the place-based and community-centered approaches
inherent to placemaking. This approach will rely on how well emerging digital
placemakers connect, share, and spread our best practices.
Room: Junior D
Pro Walk / Pro Bike / Pro Place Networking Party
Location: Shipbuilders’ Square, North Vancouver, BC
3:30–5pm
3:30–5pm
3:30–5pm
6–8pm
5
Community Engagement
Anita McKeown, Independent Researcher (Dublin,
Ireland); Assaf Frances, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo
(Tel Aviv, Israel); Colleen Hardwick, PlaceSpeak Inc.
(Vancouver, BC); Jessica Christiansen-Franks, CoDesign
Studio (Melbourne, Australia); Kate Hodgson, Ray-Cam
Coop (Vancouver, BC); Mike Fisher, Urban Tacticians
(Christchurch, New Zealand); Nicholas Waissbluth, Insitu
Foundation (Vancouver, BC)
Room: Junior C
Managing Change
Hamden Abdul Majeed, Think City (Georgetown,
Malaysia); Jennifer Wildt, William Self & Associates
(Tuscon, AZ); Jim Graham, Graham Baba Architects
(Seattle, WA); Mark Hinshaw, Seattle Housing Authority
(Seattle, WA); Melissa Lee, New Orleans Redevelopment
Authority (New Orleans, LA)
Room: Parksville
Colored dots highlight sessions that follow key conference tracks. See page 12 for details.
*
For more information about speakers and sessions, please visit: placemakingweek.org/plf/schedule
6. 6
FUTURE OF PLACES THURSDAY, SEPT 15
Registration Open
Breakfast
Welcome
Fred Kent, PPS (New York, NY) & Peter Elmlund, Ax:son Johnson (Stockholm, SE)
The New Urban Paradigm: Placemaking & Innovation For All
Bruce Katz, Brookings Institution (Washington, DC) & Fred Kent, PPS (New York, NY)
The New Urban Paradigm: Learning from Detroit and Los Angeles
Panelists: Eduardo Santana, Pershing Square Renew (Los Angeles, CA); Megan Lee,
Southwest Airlines (Dallas, TX); Robert Gregory, Detroit Downtown Partnership;
Sarida Scott Montgomery, Community Development Advocates of Detroit (MI)
Coffee Break
The Old Paradigm: The Wrong Kind of Urbanization
George Ferguson, Former Mayor of Bristol, UK; Patrick Condon, University of
British Columbia (Vancouver, BC); Paul Soglin, Mayor of Madison, WI
Research Breakout Sessions (7 Themes)
7am–5pm
7–8am
8–8:30am
8:30–9:15am
9:15–10:15am
10:15–10:30am
10:30–11:30am
11:30am–1pm
Adequate Public Space
for All
Presenters: Andrew Stober,
University City District
(Philadelphia, PA); Jeremy Banks,
Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS);
Lisa Eckenwiler, George Mason
University (Fairfax, VA); Susan
Nguyen, Mayor’s Office of New
Urban Mechanics (Boston, MA)
Room: Pavilion C
Culture and Context
Presenters: Charles Wolfe,
University of Washington (Seattle,
WA); Jonna Majgaard Krarup,
KADK (Copenhagen, Denmark);
Mennatu Allah Hendawy, Ain
Shams University (Cairo, Egypt)
Room: Junior A
Economic Spillover
Presenters: Bulelwa Makalima-
Ngewana, Cape Town Partnership
(South Africa); Chris Fair,
Resonance Consultancy (Vancouver,
BC); Scott Graham, Social Planning
and Research Council of BC
(Burnaby, BC)
Room: Junior B
Citywide Approach
Presenters: Michael Gordon, City
of Vancouver; Husam Al Waer,
Kevin Murray Associates (Glasgow,
UK); Mark Roseland & Amelia
Clarke, Simon Fraser University
(Vancouver, BC); Neil Hrushowy
& Amy Cohen, Office of the Mayor
(San Francisco, CA)
Room: Junior D
Human Scale
Presenters: Amira Badran, Gehl
Studio (New York, NY); Carrie
Christensen, Creative CityMaking
(Minneapolis, MN); Heidi Campbell,
Evergreen (Toronto, ON); Victoria
Dickenson, Independent Scholar
(Montreal, QC)
Room: Pavilion D
Sustainable Spaces
Presenters: Alexander Stahle,
KTH (Stockholm, Sweden); Kristie
Daniel, HealthBridge (Ottawa,
ON); Laura Clemons, Collaborative
Communities (Austin, TX)
Room: Parksville
7. 7
All events are in the Grand Ballroom unless otherwise noted.
See pages 22–23 for maps of additional rooms and locations.
*
People-Centered Approach
Presenters: Elva Yañez, Prevention Institute (New York, NY); Hector Abarca, Architect (Vancouver, BC); Jane Ellery,
Ball State University (Muncie, IN); Tyler Norris, Kaiser Permanente (San Francisco, CA) & Janet Heroux, Healthy
Communities Consultant (Princeton, NJ)
Room: Junior C
Local Lunch Break
Explore Vancouver’s many restaurants and food trucks. (Lunch on your own)
Plenary Report Back and Discussion
Michael Mehaffy, Future of Places (Portland, OR);
Coffee Break
The New Urban Paradigm: Research Into Action
David Brain, New College Florida (Sarasota, FL); Hans Karssenberg, Stipo
(Rotterdam, The Netherlands); Setha Low, The Graduate Center, CUNY (New York,
NY); Vikas Mehta, University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)
Conclusion
West Coast Placemakers Meet-Up
Room: Junior A
New England Placemakers Meet-Up
Location: Meet in Main Lobby, Sheraton Wall Centre
#POPCrawl | Power of Placemaking
A choose your own adventure exploration of downtown Vancouver public space.
Join us for the official launch at the south plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery (800
Robson Street), pick up a “passport” to our sites, and let your crawl begin. Sites have
been curated and animated specially for the evening. How many can you make it to?
1–2:15pm
2:15–3pm
3–3:15pm
3:15–4:30pm
4:30–5pm
5:15–6:15pm
5:15–6:15pm
5–10pm
What is the Future of Places?
Established in 2013, the Future of Places forum is arranged and financed by
Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, in partnership with UN-
Habitat and Project for Public Spaces. In advocating for the importance of
placemaking and public space in sustainable urban development programs,
Future of Places participants have ensured that these issues are central in
the “New Urban Agenda,” which will be decided during the United Nations
Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador this October.
For more information about speakers and sessions, please visit: placemakingweek.org/plf/schedule
8. Registration Open
Asia-Pacific Placemakers Meet-Up
Room: Junior D
Breakfast
Welcome
Democratizing the City: New Approaches to Engagement
Moderator: Daniel Latorre, PPS, (New York, NY)
Panelists: Gilbert Rochecouste, Village Well (Melbourne, Australia); Jennifer
Keesmaat, City of Toronto (Toronto, ON); John Bela, Gehl Studio (San Francisco);
Robert St. Mary, Patronicity (Detroit, MI)
Facilitated Concurrent Workshops 1:
PLACEMAKING LEADERSHIP FORUM FRIDAY, SEPT 16
7am–12pm
7:30–9am
8–9am
9–9:05am
9:05–10am
10–11:15am
8
Place Governance:
Strategy Working Session
Facilitator: Ethan Kent, PPS
(New York, NY); Contributors:
André Leroux, Massachusetts Smart
Growth (Boston, MA); Eduardo
Santana, Pershing Square Renew
(Los Angeles, CA); Karen True,
Alliance for Pioneer Square (Seattle,
WA); Mike Fisher, Urban Tacticians
(Christchurch, New Zealand)
Room: Pavilion ABCD
Transportation &
Streets as Places:
Strategy Working Session
Facilitators: Gary Toth, Sam
Goater and Mark Plotz, PPS (New
York, NY & Washington, DC)
Room: Junior ABC
Arts-Based Placemaking:
To Measure the Worth
Facilitators: Cynthia Nikitin, PPS
(New York, NY); Regina Smith,
Kresge Foundation (Troy, MI)
Contributors: Aaron Paley,
Community Arts Resources (Los
Angeles, CA); Jim Walker, Big Car
Collaborative (Indianapolis, IN);
Sharon Yazowski, Levitt Foundation
(New York, NY)
Room: Junior D
11:15–11:30am
11:30–12:45pm
Coffee Break
Facilitated Concurrent Workshops 2:
Sponsored by The Real Estate Foundation of BC
Making Places of
Innovation, Creativity
& Entrepreneurship
Facilitators: Jennifer Vey,
Brookings Institution (Washington,
DC); Steve Davies & Nate Storring,
PPS (New York, NY); Contributors:
Ed Blakely, University of Sydney
(Australia); Janet Flowers, Granville
Island (Vancouver, BC)
Room: Pavilion ABCD
A Place for Health:
A Human-Scaled,
Community-Driven
Approach to Healthier
Living
Facilitators: Cathy Costakis,
Montana State University (Bozeman,
MT); Jane Ellery, Ball State
University (Muncie, IN); Laura
Torchio, PPS (New York, NY)
Room: Junior ABC
Rural Placemaking:
Strategy Working Session
Facilitators: Cynthia Nikitin and
Gary Toth, PPS (New York, NY);
Room: Junior D
9. SATURDAY, SEPT 17
Lunch Break
Morning Reporting Back: Themes & Priorities
Moderator: Mary Rowe, PPS (New York, NY)
Equity & Inclusion in Placemaking
Discussant: Setha Low, The Graduate Center, CUNY (New York, NY)
Facilitators: Elena Madison & Juliet Kahne, PPS (New York, NY)
Presenters: Alex Sasayama, NeighborWorks America & Remy De La Peza, Little
Tokyo Service Center (Los Angeles, CA); Bulelwa Ngewana, Cape Town Partnership
(Cape Town, South Africa); Caleb Zigas, La Cocina (San Francisco, CA); Lucinda
Hartley, CoDesign Studio (Melbourne, Australia); Shawn Lani, The Exploratorium
(San Francisco, CA)
Coffee Break
Place-Led Urbanization: How Can We Recenter Architecture on Place?
Moderator: Ellen McCarthy, The Urban Partnership (Washington DC)
Panelists: Dana Crawford, Urban Neighborhoods Inc (Denver, CO); Hans
Karssenberg, Stipo (Rotterdam, The Netherlands); Otto Condon, ZGF Architects
(Washington, DC); PK Das, PK Das & Associates (Mumbai, India); Ricardo Birmann,
Urbanizadora Paranoazinho S.A. (Brasilia, Brazil)
Conclusion: Beyond Habitat III
Moderator: Mary Rowe, PPS (New York, NY)
Panelists: Elisa Sutanudjaja, Rujak Center for Urban Studies (Jakarta, Indonesia);
Jose Chong, UN-Habitat (Washington, DC); Michael Mehaffy, The Future of Places
(Portland, OR); Ming Zhang, World Bank (Washington, DC); Rony Al Jalkh, PPS
(Beirut, Lebanon); Thomas Ermacora, Machines Room (London, UK)
Closing Reception: Celebrating Placemaking Week!
Location: Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut St. RSVP required.
12:45–1:45pm
1:45–2:30pm
2:30–3:45pm
3:45–4pm
4–5:15pm
5:15–6pm
7–9pm
9
All events are in the Pavilion ABCD unless otherwise noted.
See pages 22–23 for maps of additional rooms and locations.
*
10am–12:30pm
9am–5pm
Tour: Explore Creative Placemaking in Vancouver
A tour of 11 sites led by VIVA Vancouver, the City of Vancouver program that
transforms road spaces into vibrant pedestrian places. RSVP required.
Location: Meet at Main Lobby, Sheraton Wall Centre
Canadian Regional Meeting
Location: Djaved Mowafaghian World Arts Centre, SFU, World Art Studio (Room
2555), 149 West Hastings Street. (Registration at 8:30am) RSVP required.
For more information about speakers, and sessions please visit: placemakingweek.org/plf/schedule
Reception sponsored by Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC & Urban Development Institute
10. PLENARY SPEAKERS
10
Alex Sasayama
NeighborWorks
America
Los Angeles, CA
Dana Crawford
Urban
Neighborhoods Inc
Denver, CO
George Ferguson
Former Mayor of
Bristol
Bristol, UK
Bruce Katz
Brookings
Institution
Washington, DC
Gilbert
Rochecouste
Village Well
Melbourne,
Australia
Bulelwa Ngewana
Cape Town
Partnership
Cape Town,
South Africa
Eduardo Santana
Pershing Square
Renew
Los Angeles, CA
Glenn Harding
UrbanScreens
Melbourne,
Australia
Caleb Zigas
La Cocina
San Francisco, CA
Elisa Sutanudjaja
Rujak Center for
Urban Studies
Jakarta, Indonesia
Hans
Karssenberg
Stipo
Rotterdam, The
Netherlands
Cath Carver
Colour Your City
London, UK
Ellen McCarthy
The Urban
Partnership
Washington DC
Jennifer
Keesmaat
City of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Ellen Woodsworth
Women Transforming
Cities International
Vancouver, BC
John Bela
Gehl Studio
San Francisco, CA
Karen Quinn
Fung
Vancouver Public
Space Network
Vancouver, BC
Fred Kent
Project for Public
Spaces
New York, NY
We are thrilled to have an incredible group of leading placemakers from
around the world join us in Vancouver. Below is a list of who we will
be hearing from during the plenaries. For more information on these
speakers and other speakers from the workshops, research breakouts
and tours, please visit: placemakingweek.org/plf/schedule
11. 11
Ricardo Birmann
Urbanizadora
Paranoazinho S.A.
Brasilia, Brazil
Nathaniel Canuel
Up With Hope
Vancouver, BC
Robert Gregory
Detroit
Downtown
Partnership
Detroit, MI
Patrick Condon
University of
British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Robert St. Mary
Patronicity Detroit,
MI
Sarida Scott
Montgomery
Community
Development
Advocates of
Detroit
MI
Setha Low
The Graduate
Center, CUNY
New York, NY
Rico
Quirindongo
DLR Group
Seattle, WA
Otto Condon
ZGF Architects
Washington, DC
Rony Al Jalkh
Project for Public
Spaces
Beirut, Lebanon
Shawn Lani
The Exploratorium
San Francisco, CA
Teeko Yang
Northern Spark
Minneapolis, MN
Thomas
Ermacora
Machines Room
London, UK
Vikas Mehta
University of
Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Yuri Aritbase
Strong Towns
Vancouver, BC
Plus Many More
Lou Huang
Street Mix, CartoDB
New York, NY
Lucinda Hartley
CoDesign Studio
Melbourne,
Australia
Megan Lee
Southwest Airlines
Dallas, TX
Michael Mehaffy
Future of Places
Portland, OR
Ming Zhang
World Bank
Washington, DC
Paul Soglin
Mayor of Madison
WI
Remy De La Peza
Little Tokyo
Service Center
Los Angeles, CA
PK Das
PK Das &
Associates
Mumbai, India
12. TRANSFORMATIVE AGENDAS
Public space is inherently multidimensional. Successful and genuine
public spaces are used by many different people for many different pur-
poses at many different times of the day and the year. Because public
spaces harbor so many uses and users—or fail to do so—they are also
where a staggering cross-section of local and global issues converge.
Public space is for negotiating the interface between our homes, our
businesses, our institutions, and the broader world. Public space is how
we get to work, how we do our errands, and how we get back home. Pub-
lic space is where nearly half of violent crimes happen—or all of them,
if you count abutting spaces. Public space is where policing ensures
safety for some but not others. Public space is for buying and selling,
or for meeting, playing, and bumping into one another. Public space is
where water management happens, where miles driven become CO2
burned, or where ecosystems of urban flora and fauna thrive. Public
space is for conveying our outrage and our highest aspirations, as well
as for laying the most mundane utilities and infrastructure. And when
we let it, public space can be a medium for creativity, expression, and
experimentation.
In short, public space is where so many tragedies and triumphs of the
commons play out. And that’s why getting it right matters. The follow-
ing pages lay out ten Transformative Agendas, ten issue areas where
we believe placemaking—the community-driven co-creation of public
space—can have the most transformative impact.
12
Equity & Inclusion
Transportation & Streets as Places
Architecture of Place
Market Cities
Innovation Hubs
Place Governance
Sustainability & Resilience
Rural Communities
Creative Placemaking
Health
13. EQUITY & INCLUSION
“Cities have the capability of providing something for
everybody, only because, and only when, they are created
by everybody.” — Jane Jacobs
We all have a right to the city. Placemaking is about ensuring inclusion
and fostering shared community ownership. Large-scale projects and
ongoing social/economic processes like gentrification not only nega-
tively impact and displace residents, businesses, and communities, but
they also irrevocably affect the physical and cultural landscape of plac-
es. Inclusive placemaking that engages all users encourages more eq-
uitable and sustainable development. Great places benefit everyone by
connecting existing residents and strengthening the existing character
of a neighborhood, rather than replacing or erasing it. Great places re-
flect the unique character, values, and heritage of the people who use
them. How can place-led approaches to community development help
to better support openness and inclusiveness in our communities?
Equity in Creating Public Space: An Intersectional Lens on Cities
Wednesday, 3:30-5pm / Room: Pavilion D
Adequate Public Space for All
Thursday, 11:30am–1pm / Room: Pavilion C
Equity & Inclusion in Placemaking
Friday, 2:30-3:45pm / Room: Pavilion ABCD
13
14. TRANSPORTATION & STREETS AS PLACES
“If we can develop and design streets so that they are wonderful,
fulfilling places to be—community-building places, attractive for all
people—then we will have successfully designed about one-third of the
city directly and will have had an immense impact on the rest.”
-Allan Jacobs
Throughout most of human history, the street has functioned as one of
our most important public spaces. Beyond its role in transporting people
and goods, it was also a place for socializing, for trade, and for play. Over
the last century, though, as a result of attempts to accommodate vehicular
traffic, many of our streets have lost this sense of place. Today’s communi-
ties are struggling to meet the demands of ever-increasing traffic volumes
without harming the urban fabric that made them successful places to be-
gin with. But it doesn’t have to be this way: Streets can once again become
thriving, livable environments for people, not just cars. Downtown streets
can become cultural destinations, not just monotonous routes to and from
the workplace. Neighborhood streets can become safe play zones for chil-
dren, and commercial areas can become grand boulevards that welcome
pedestrians, vendors, cyclists, and drivers alike.
Transportation & Streets as Places: Strategy Working Session
Friday, 10-11:15pm / Room: Junior ABC
1414
15. Innovation Hubs
ARCHITECTURE OF PLACE
“It’s hard to design a space that won’t attract people, what is
remarkable, is how often this has been accomplished.”
-William H. Whyte
Architects and planners must pay closer attention to local knowledge
and preferences, and consider ways in which their efforts and designs
can support the creation of authentic, meaningful places for people to
use and enjoy. Beyond the limited goal of making “bold” and “innova-
tive” aesthetic expressions, good design can help us achieve solutions
to many of today’s major urban issues, from environmental destruction
to economic decline to social alienation. Architecture and planning fall
far short of their potential for public leadership when professionals fo-
cus all of their talent on creating an iconic or artistic statement, without
engaging local stakeholders in co-developing solutions. How can we
promote a higher professional standard for planners and designers?
Place-Led Urbanization:
How can we recenter architecture on place?
Friday, 4-5:15pm / Room: Pavilion ABCD
1515
16. Innovation does not happen in isolation. It happens as a result of the syner-
gies that are made possible by place: between people, ideas, and opportunities.
For much of the 20th century, economic life existed separately from the plac-
es in which people lived and played; it was isolated instead in remote office
parks and corporate campuses in areas like Silicon Valley and Boston’s Route
128 Corridor. Today, however, we are recognizing that the interplay between
inventive people and the places they share is what accelerates the exchange of
ideas, resources, and talent—the very process that fuels innovation. More and
more, the lively, entrepreneurial hubs like innovation districts, public markets,
and arts and culture clusters that are emerging in cities across the country are
demonstrating the profound economic value of place-led economic develop-
ment. What barriers still remain to fostering innovation through place?
The New Urban Paradigm: Placemaking & Innovation For All
Thursday, 8:30–9:15am / Room: Grand Ballroom
Making Places of Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship
Friday, 11:30-12:45pm / Room: Pavilion ABCD
INNOVATION HUBS
MARKET CITIES
Cities and their rural hinterlands are mutually dependent: each fuels the oth-
er with food and other resources. By linking food with place, “Market Cities”
create dynamic sites for urban- rural interchange, anchoring local culture and
social life for all residents. Public markets are also the best incubators for new
businesses; often providing the best low-risk entry point for immigrant-led
enterprises. At the 9th International Public Markets Conference in Barcelona,
participants produced a declaration calling for funding and policy recognition
at all levels to “optimize the benefits of markets, especially for marginal and at-
risk populations.” Public markets are essential components of any community’s
civic commons. What are the barriers to strengthening and supporting them?
“While we can’t easily, nor should we try to, change the underlying fabric of
our communities, we need to acquire a deep understanding of what will make
communities more competitive now and in the future.”
- Dan Gilmartin
16
17. PLACE GOVERNANCE
“It is not enough for [government] administrators in most fields to
understand specific services and techniques. They must understand, and
understand thoroughly, specific places.”
-Jane Jacobs
All politics is local. So is placemaking. Local residents are too often re-
moved from the stewardship of their public spaces, with responsibility
for management divided between government agencies with narrow
objectives. Transportation agencies control traffic; planners allocate
density; parks departments resist new uses that could lead to greater
maintenance costs etc. While “turf” has often inhibited the real stew-
ardship of places, new models of place governance are emerging that
incentivize a place-led approach to urban management. In the process,
these models are changing the culture of government and revitalizing
the social contract to foster creativity, community ownership, and ro-
bust public benefits. We need to turn everything upside down to get
things right side up. How?
Place Governance: Strategy Working Session
Friday, 10:00-11:15am / Room: Pavilion ABCD
1717
18. SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE
“Improving the individual systems that make up a city will increase the
resilience of the city overall. Resilient systems withstand, respond to,
and adapt more readily to shocks and stresses to emerge stronger
after tough times, and live better in good times.”
-100 Resilient Cities
Climate change is forcing communities everywhere to confront the
stark reality that the places they cherish are imperiled. Placemaking
can influence current urban development patterns (a leading contrib-
utor to emissions growth) and support the effective implementation of
COP21. Beyond cutting emissions, the placemaking movement, locally
and globally, can support an environmental agenda that is inspiring
and actionable on an individual level. Yes, we need technological solu-
tions, encouraged by smart regulations and policy. At the same time
we need to drive change and innovation through dynamic human en-
vironments—places—that produce not only environmental benefits, but
broad social and economic returns as well.
Sustainable Spaces
Thursday, 11:30-1pm / Room: Parksville
18
19. Health
Innovation Hubs
RURAL COMMUNITIES
“There is this craving, this sense of place and connectedness, that
is only provided in small town America. Placemaking helps us unlock
the power of place and intensify that sense of connectedness; it
is a path to longer term economic transformation.”
-Patrice Frey, President and CEO, National Main Street Center
Residents in America’s small towns and rural communities care deeply
about the future of their towns and they value their uniqueness and
strong sense of community. At the same time, they increasingly face
urgent challenges: How can they add jobs and support local business-
es? How do they create a positive future for their kids? How can they
honor and protect local character and history? How do they use limit-
ed financial, human, and natural resources wisely? Developing locally
driven solutions to these challenges is critical to the long-term vitality
of these communities, and placemaking can play a powerful role in this
process. How can placemaking in smaller communities build strong
economies and grow jobs, build needed infrastructure, and strengthen
the community’s historic and culturally significant resources?
Rural Placemaking: Strategy Working Session
Friday, 11:30-12:45pm / Room: Junior D
1919
20. Creative Placemaking is an integrative approach to urban planning
and community building that stimulates local economies and leads to
increased innovation, cultural diversity, and civic engagement. Since
creativity fuels place value, the benefits of using arts and culture to
tap into a place’s unique character extend well beyond the art world.
Across sectors and at all levels, today’s leaders and policymakers are
increasingly recognizing how arts-based placemaking initiatives can
simultaneously advance their missions in transportation, housing, em-
ployment, health care, environmental sustainability, and education.
Arts-Based Placemaking: To Measure the Worth
Friday, 10-11:15pm / Room: Junior D
CREATIVE PLACEMAKING
“It’s not simply that the arts promote social well-being; they are
indispensable elements of social well-being. Just as you can’t strip out
health or housing or transportation from social well-being, neither can
you remove the arts.”
-Mark Stern
20
21. HEALTH
“From a healthcare perspective, there is nothing more important than
Placemaking.”
-Tyler Norris
Are our places encouraging health or sickness? The CDC describes
healthy places as “those designed and built to improve the quality of
life for all people who live, work, worship, learn and play within their
borders—where every person is free to make choices amid a variety of
healthy, available, accessible, and affordable options.” Lower income
neighborhoods report poorer health outcomes, and often lack public
space amenities that can have significant impacts on individual and
community health. Issues like sprawl and poorly planned growth have
resulted in unwalkable communities, poor air quality, and streets that
are unsafe for walking or bicycling. A commitment to inclusion means
providing better access for all populations to well-maintained parks,
safe recreational facilities, open green space, as well as supermarkets
and other places to obtain healthy, fresh food. Placemakers put the
needs of the community first, ensuring that the design and planning of
our built environment and public spaces benefits the physical, mental,
and social health of individuals and communities as a whole.
A Place for Health: A Human-Scaled, Community-Driven
Approach to Healthier Living
Friday, 11:30-12:45pm / Room: Junior ABC
2121
22. 22
Jack Poole Plaza
Meeting Place for City
Conversations Tour
Simon Fraser
University
City Conversations
Talk (Room 1700) &
Canadian Regional
Meeting (Saturday)
Concord Pacific
Sales Centre
Meeting place for
City-Building tour
with Trevor Boddy
Robson Square
Meeting place for
the POP CrawlSheraton Vancouver
Wall Centre
North Vancouver
SeaBusFerry
Vancouver Museum
Friday Night Closing Reception
VANCOUVER MAP
Shipbuilders' Square
Pro Walk / Pro Bike / Pro Place Networking Party
Waterfront Station
23. SHERATON
VANCOUVER
WALL CENTRE
ROOM PLANS
23
B
B
BURRARD STREET
DOWN TO
HEALTH CLUB
JUNIOR C
JUNIOR D
PARKSVILLE
PAVILION
BALLROOM
FOYER
KITCHEN
PAVILION C
PAVILION D
DOWN
TO LOBBY
AND GRAND
BALLROOM
COAT
CHECK
TO
JUNIORA
PAVILION AB
PORT
HARDY
PORT
McNEILL
PORT
ALBERNI
COAT
CHECK
JUNIORB
UTH TOWER NORTH TOWER
NOTES
BURRARD
VANCOUVER
GALIANO
FRASER
HUDSON
GRANVILLE
FOURTH FLOOR FOURTH FLOOR
COLUMBIAFOYER
PAVILION
BALLROOM
FOYER
JUNIOR
BALLROOM
FOYER
JUNIOR
BALLROOM
FOYER
HEALTH CLUB STAIRS
UP TO
4TH
FLOOR
FOYER
STAIRSAND
ELEVATORTO
NTLOBBY
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
Grand Ballroom Level
Third Floor
ACCESS TO
PHASE II
PARKADE
BALLROOM
STORAGE
MEDIA EQUIPMENT ROOM
SERVICE CORRIDOR
BURRARD STREET
DIMMER
RACK ROOM
PATCH ROOM
ENTRANCEENTRANCE
E
E
E
COATS
GRAND BALLROOM
FOYER
UP
TO LOBBY
PAVILION
BALLROOM
GRAND
BALLROOM
NORTH TOWER
NOTESGRAND BALLROOM
24. Brought to you by
Presented by
Apply for the Placemaking Leadership Council and connect
with over 1,300 activists and strategists (from over 75 countries,
and 500 cities) at the forefront of a growing movement.
Learn more: pps.org/about/leadership-council/
