Zealous nut: A conversation with Project for Public Spaces founder Fred Kent

Abstract

Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a New York City-based non-profit organisation that assists communities around the world in understanding the nexus of public space and communal use, and facilitates local solutions that are, as Fred Kent, founder of PPS says, ‘place led’. In 1975, PPS began to expand on the work of William Holly Whyte, author of ‘The social life of small urban spaces’ (1980) and ‘City: Rediscovering the center’ (1988). Over the ensuing forty years, PPS has undertaken projects in more than 3,000 communities in 43 countries and all 50 US states. More than 900 people are members of the Placemaking Leadership Council, describing PPS’s vision as ‘the central hub of the global Placemaking movement, connecting people to ideas, expertise, and partners who share a passion for creating vital places’. In this conversation with Betsy Jackson, JURR Editorial Board Member and President of The Urban Agenda, Inc. (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Fred Kent discusses the key features of good place making, as well as the barriers to the creation and management of dynamic community spaces. In general, local elected officials and the design professions do not fare well in Fred’s worldview of place making, while grassroots activism and entrepreneurial, private-sector leadership emerge as keystones to success.