Public Sphere Projects* is a national planning and placemaking consultancy. We advise place managers on the visioning, strategy, and stewardship of shared urban places through an uncompromising commitment to the values of justice and joy.
WorkPlanning, plus.
Our work focuses on the public life of places — finding new ways to build public will, shift policy, secure funding, and foster belonging.
We advise municipal governments, downtowns, park systems, institutions, and other urban place managers on strategic decisions that impact the future of shared places. We focus on the finance, operations, stewardship, and governance of public places.
Image courtesy of the Downtown Boston BID
Welcoming BIPOC-led businesses to downtown Boston
Like many of its peers across the U.S., Boston’s central business district is facing new challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic. Working alongside the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, Public Sphere Projects is positioning downtown Boston as an active and radically welcoming district. In partnership with entrepreneurs, policymakers, and property owners, we are piloting a ground-floor activation program that promises to reshape the retail landscape — and the public realm.
Public Sphere Projects’ Sean Webster explores the opportunities of our work to position downtown Boston as an active and radically welcoming district. Read more on Medium ➭
Images courtesy of Chicago Loop Alliance and Jessica Stockholder
Painting the town with public art
The largest work of “temporary contemporary” art in Chicago’s history, Color Jam began as a risky bet. To bring a sense of vibrancy and joy to a humdrum corner of Chicago’s downtown, Public Sphere Projects co-founders led Chicago Loop Alliance’s effort to saturate the urban environment with color. The result was a stunning piece: an entire city intersection remade by bright, larger-than-life shapes made brighter by local businesses and visitors who found playful ways to celebrate this work of art.
Strengthening a civic alliance in Hartford
Since 2006, the Hartford Business Improvement District (BID) has played a crucial role in fostering community and belonging in Hartford, Connecticut, bringing reassurance — and fun — to its district amid a global pandemic and disruptive construction projects. Interested in exploring an expanded economic development scope and assessing areas for improvement across its program of work, the BID contracted Public Sphere Projects to conduct a strategic audit, drawing up recommendations to enable the BID to build internal capacity, enhance employee well-being, and deliver on the needs of the district.
The phrase public sphere was coined by philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who defined it as "made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society."
*
Image courtesy of Friends of Cville Downtown
Fostering civic life and healing in Charlottesville
The downtown mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a beloved civic space and an icon of landscape architecture. It is also associated with a civic trauma — a divisive protest that turned deadly. Public Sphere Projects worked with Friends of Cville Downtown to reimagine the mall ahead of its 50th anniversary. Our work was guided by twin stars — to preserve the lovely, off-kilter character of place, while grappling publicly with the legacies of political and racial divisions that still haunt it.
Quantifying the value of American downtowns
The impact of urban places can be difficult to quantify, but research from the International Downtown Association (IDA) is cracking the code. Writing for IDA’s The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities, Public Sphere Projects has shown how downtowns outperform the cities in which they reside across many metrics, including the density of jobs and residents as well as diversity, accessibility, and environmental resilience. The data tells a convincing story that is helping energize support for U.S. downtowns.
Public Sphere Projects’ Dillon Goodson reflects on the importance of IDA’s body of research, which is unfolding as American downtowns find new relevancy. Read more on Medium ➭
Image courtesy of the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce + PORT Urbanism
Reinventing legacy infrastructure as community space
On Chicago’s North Side, the Lakeview Low-Line demonstrates the power of public art as a tool for transformation. Beneath a half-mile stretch of the city’s muscular ‘L’ tracks, dozens of murals, sculptural seating elements, and interactive light installations soften the urban experience, reawakening land that sat underutilized — and unappreciated — for generations. Led by Public Sphere Projects partner Dillon Goodson, the project combines more than a decade’s worth of public will, grassroots fundraising, and stakeholder buy-in, proving that the best ideas are worth waiting for.
Visualizing a cultural corridor in Boston
Boston’s Huntington Avenue, known as the “Avenue of the Arts,” is a district-scaled collection of arts and cultural institutions. As part of a comprehensive planning initiative, Public Sphere Projects partner Philip Barash led a broad-based asset inventory that shed light on the physical and cultural identity of the district. Produced as a striking visual map — now in the permanent collection of the Boston Public Library — the asset inventory enabled stakeholders to fully recognize the diverse character of the district and envision future interventions.
Images courtesy of Studio Ummo
Coordinating municipal policy across a growing region
Northwest Arkansas is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation transformation. The region is remaking itself with showpiece parks, dense urban developments, celebrity cyclists, abundant philanthropic investments, and big ambitions. Making all of this possible is a shared commitment to arts and culture — the connective tissue among multiple municipal agencies, agendas, and stakeholders. PSP partner Philip Barash is leading an unprecedented effort to convene municipal leaders around a shared learning agenda. This cohort of leaders is now in a better position to manage regional social infrastructures and leverage resources across juridical boundaries.
Public Sphere Projects is made up of thought leaders with expertise in governance, policy, planning, placemaking, finance, and more.
Keeping Fayetteville funky, engaged, and resourced
As newcomers relocate to Fayetteville, Arkansas, the city’s defining “funk” is in need of being redefined and strengthened. The City of Fayetteville contracted Public Sphere Projects to understand and document its dynamic cultural ecosystem. Key to this work is structuring an inclusive, citywide community engagement process — a way to foster a strong network of constituents, allies, and partners. Our work culminated in a comprehensive “cultural brief” that describes both assets and gaps, providing a framework for further planning and policy decisions.
Image by Charles Mayer Photography courtesy of Now + There
Making space for art and healing at an iconic national park
Public Sphere Projects was part of a team that transformed a vacant parcel at the edge of the Boston Harbor into a destination for art, community, and healing. The inaugural “Lot Lab” installation — curated by our partners at Now + There, in collaboration with the National Park Service and Boston Harbor Now — turned a modest lot into a vibrant, free “laboratory” for public art.
Public Sphere Projects’ Philip Barash reflects on how PSP worked together with a team of local leaders to reimagine the challenging, underused site as a radically welcoming place. Read more on Medium ➭