Public Sphere Projects* is a national planning practice. We build transformative, actionable plans that strengthen the strategic capacity, economic competitiveness, and cultural character of shared places.
WorkPlanning, plus.
Our work focuses on the public life of places. We find new ways to build civic will, shift policy, secure funding, and foster belonging.
We work in partnership with place stewards, including public agencies, community leaders, philanthropic institutions, and others who share an ethos of care.
Marco Calderon Photography / City of Allentown
Launching a comprehensive revitalization strategy in downtown Allentown
Over a generation, Allentown has reenergized its downtown with cultural activity, reindustrialization, and new residential development. To build on this momentum, Public Sphere Projects led the Allentown Revitalization and Activation Strategy, a generational project to define an ambitious vision for downtown – and build the funding, policy, and organizational capacity to execute it. As a result, the public-private Downtown Allentown Alliance now operates with a public mandate, support from elected leaders, and a sustainable funding mix.
Marco Calderon Photography / City of Allentown
Leading a comprehensive municipal plan for cultural capacity and investment
As the Sundance International Film Festival relocated to Boulder, Public Sphere Projects was tapped by city leaders to lead a wide-ranging cultural planning effort – the Boulder Arts Blueprint. The Blueprint set a direction for allocating resources, expanding arts access, enhancing facilities, and supporting creative activity over the next decade. Our team paired a vision for long-term investment with concrete policy, funding, and operational goals – all in alignment with the City’s comprehensive plan and equity framework. Adopted in 2026, the Blueprint’s recommendations have been embraced by civic leaders and the creative community.
Measuring what we value and valuing what we measure
Through rigorously researched “State of Downtown” data analyses, Public Sphere Projects equips leaders with the confidence to make decisions, project budgets, advocate for resources, or pivot programs. Our series of State of Downtown reports delivers compelling, independent data — and serves policymakers with actionable insights. In Asheville, Memphis, Tulsa, Baltimore, and elsewhere, these reports have illuminated key trade-offs and helped to build public consensus.
Downtown Boston Alliance
Welcoming BIPOC-led businesses to downtown Boston
Boston’s central business district struggled with ground-floor vacancies in the aftermath of the pandemic. Working with the Downtown Boston Alliance, Public Sphere Projects seized this opportunity to reshape the retail landscape and the public realm. We deployed an innovative strategy that welcomed BIPOC entrepreneurs and activated the district with both permanent and temporary tenants. To build this ambitious initiative, we leveraged federal funding streams, incentivized property owners, and established a permanent economic development role within DBA.
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 ➭
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."
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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 ➭