Measuring Public Life & Urban Justice in NYC's Plazas
2015

ENGAGEMENT
RESEARCH

Client: J Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City (at City College of New York)

Partners: Gehl Studio, Transportation Alternatives

Read the full report here.

The collaborative study started with a simple question: can the design of public space have a positive impact on public life and urban justice? The final report, Public Life and Urban Justice in NYC Plazas, is the culmination of an 18-month collaboration to develop, investigate, measure and evaluate how NYC’s Public Plaza Program and seven of its plazas contribute to quality public life and greater social justice. The economic benefits of the program are widely documented, but little is known about how these places perform for people in terms of the quality of public space and robustness of public life.