Streets, parking spaces and sidewalks comprise the largest area among types of public space in downtowns across the world. Pre-pandemic, managing parking for delivery bikes and procuring permits for outdoor cafés was challenging. However, reduced traffic presented opportunities to take advantage of these resources in new ways. Join this discussion of management models, programs, and regulatory frameworks that have shifted the use of our public assets to small businesses that need it most.
Facilities Management
Sub Categories: Facilities Management
Advancing Places: Public Space
This practical and tactical session will address the opportunities and challenges downtowns and commercial districts have in repositioning our public spaces in the post-COVID-19 world. The panelists will address flexible design strategies, safe and healthy operations and working with businesses, public agencies and partners to creatively address new uses and demands for our sidewalks, streets and open spaces.
Placemaking & Events Roundtable
Has the pandemic paused your district’s placemaking and public events or have you been able to adjust to the new realities of physical-distancing and face-coverings? This roundtable conversation will focus on sharing new ideas and necessary innovations for pandemic-era placemaking and public events.
Carol Coletta Master Talk
Carol Coletta leads the relaunch of Memphis River Parks Partnership, a nonprofit developing, managing and programming six miles of riverfront and five park districts. Previously, she led the two-year start-up of ArtPlace, a unique public-private collaboration to accelerate creative placemaking in communities across the U.S. and was President & CEO of CEOs for Cities for seven years.
Leasing a City Building to the BID as a Multi-Use Space
For the Bixby Knolls BIA, the EXPO building is their festival grounds, their office, and a resource they use for activations and community programming that draw people out of their neighborhoods and into the heart of the district.
Building the Value Proposition of Urban Park Management
Learn from leading experts in urban park management and improvement projects across the United States. The session will help build your value proposition for enhancing and investing in high-quality public spaces and green space, and in turn building value for the property surrounding your urban parks.
Transforming Downtown Transit Streets
Great streets are the hallmark of successful cities. In cities that lack underground rail, surface street buses are the lifeblood of downtown mobility, and one or two streets can act as dedicated busways. In addition to carrying people to and through downtown, these transit streets are also important pedestrian corridors. Learn how Denver, Minneapolis, and Seattle are reinventing the way they do transit and manage their transit streets.
New ‘Outside the Box’ Approaches to Homeless Services
Often, place managers approach homelessness as a nuisance to be abated through things like “hostile architecture,” but often find this counterproductive. Some districts are exploring new approaches to serve people experiencing homelessness with programs like pop-up public toilets and social media videos to reunite families, to more expansive social worker interventions and eviction prevention strategies. This session presents ideas and spark discussion on compassionate and inclusive approaches.
From Creation to Curation: Inclusive, Experimental Approaches to Furniture
Outdoor furniture can fundamentally shape the way people engage with a public space. But curating furniture that addresses a place’s unique needs, characteristics and culture can be a challenge. This presentation highlights how different place managers empowered artists and designers to craft furniture that elevates the public space and connects it to the surrounding city.
Championing Iconic Downtown Infrastructure
Explore how BIDs and community organizations are initiating and advancing the next generation of imaginative park and transportation infrastructure projects that breakdown barriers and enhance mobility, create place, enhance livability and spur economic development for downtown. Featured projects include the Crystal City to Washington National Airport (CC2DCA) Intermodal Pedestrian Connection in Arlington, VA; Rail Park and Dilworth Park in Philadelphia; and the 11th Street Bridge Park in DC.
Pop-Up Winnipeg Public Toilet
| The Pop-Up Winnipeg Public Toilet initiative aims to lead by example through providing an accessible, clean, secure, well-maintained, monitored public washroom facility. The Pop-Up has captured the imagination of people in Winnipeg and beyond, generated enthusiastic media coverage, and stirred conversations recognizing the importance of human dignity and access to public toilets in the downtown. |
The Lower Polk Pit Stop
One way that San Francisco is dealing with the feces issue is via the use of what are called “Pit Stops.” These are free public restrooms that are operated by a partnership between San Francisco and JCDecaux (“JCD”). The Lower Polk CBD was able to secure funding to monitor the JCD Pit Stop located in our District. This has decreased feces calls and improved quality of life for people in the district.
Stuart Mangrum Master Talk
A member of the Burning Man community since 1993, Stuart was one of the organization’s first year-round volunteers. In his current role he focuses on cultural development programs including public education, staff and volunteer training, and historical documentation. He is also deeply involved in the event’s creative direction, as co-author of the last three event themes and a collaborator in designing the Black Rock City experience.
Tim Tompkins – San Francisco
Tim Tompkins has been the President of the Times Square Alliance since 2002. The Alliance is a business improvement district that works to improve and promote Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century. Prior to coming to the Alliance, he was the Founder and Director of Partnerships for Parks, which works to support New York City’s neighborhood parks.
Dan Koh Master Talk
Daniel Arrigg Koh is Chief of Staff to the City of Boston. In this capacity, he advises Mayor Martin J. Walsh on key issues and helps him execute his vision for the city and its 18,000 employees. During his master talk at the 62nd Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 7-9, 2016, Dan discusses the use of data in improving city services, place management and city building.
Bryant Park Amenities
The traditional public park offers simple amenities that meet basic human needs, like a refreshing water fountain, convenient WiFi, or a comfortable public restroom. Bryant Park expands on these offerings, deepening the visitor experience with its free “Amenity” areas, a set of staffed activity “rooms” that are open nearly all day during the warm season. We call them “Amenities” because of their dependability: they are open for at least nine hours each day from April through October.
Trash Talks: Approaches for a Waste-Free Public Realm
The cleanliness of a neighborhood’s streets and sidewalks is one of the most visible metrics by which urban place management organizations are evaluated. BIDs get firsthand experience with the impacts of too much trash on budgets, pedestrian activity, and business retention. Practitioners will share learnings on moving towards a sustainable and waste-free public realm by partnering with property owners and businesses and implementing innovative solutions.