18.3. Public-Private Place Management

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

A Public Space System must be cared for by a variety of entities, often including a mix of public and private institutions…


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Problem-statement: There are many advantages to involving private as well as public entities in the management of urban spaces, including the construction, improvement and ongoing care of public spaces. But there are important dangers too that must be avoided.


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Discussion:A familiar vehicle for the co-management and/or co-development of public places is the public-private partnership. Often these partnerships include private structures as well, forming the ensemble of a neighborhood center or commercial district. At a smaller scale, private entities often become involved in managing the public spaces around their properties.


There are many advantages in engaging private businesses, non-profit institutions and individuals in these formal collaborations. They can often generate the financial and personnel resources needed, they often have expertise about how to address market dynamics, and — perhaps most important — they are often best situated at the more local and distributed scales of public spaces.


At the same time, there are considerable dangers in such an arrangement. Private entities have financial interests which might be in conflict with the interests of the public and its public realm. There may be a slow erosion of true public access in favor of only those members of the public who might become customers of the private entities, or who are perceived to be less “trouble” for the private entities — thereby excluding, say, young people, ethnic minorities, or others who should have access especially to the public realm (with all the normal responsibilities and conditions thereof). In some cases, the exclusion can be tacit or even unintended — perhaps as the result of exclusive symbols or characteristics that remind some of a painful past.¹ In addition, there are requirements in many places for “public accommodation” within private businesses open to the public, and this access must be safeguarded as well. It should also be recognized that private entities can be allies in making public spaces more accessible to all — for example, by providing “eyes on the street” and other forms of Informal Stewardship, thereby making them safer for women, children, and other groups.


It should also be recognized that private entities can be allies in making public spaces more accessible to all — for example, by providing “eyes on the street” and other forms of Informal Stewardship, thereby making them safer for women, children, and other groups.


It is therefore important to determine which entity is most appropriate to take responsibility of different aspects of place. For example, a win-win strategy may be to divide construction and upkeep so that larger scales are taken care of by public-sector institutions, whereas smaller scales are taken care of by more nimble and more local private entities.


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Therefore:

Structure agreements carefully between public and private entities to provide for the development and management of urban spaces, especially public spaces. Provide ongoing public reviews and social surveys, to assure that groups are not being unduly excluded from the public realm. Do not let private entities usurp the proper access to and enjoyment of public spaces — but at the same time, use the distributed capabilities of private entities to improve urban space.


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Provide for Informal Stewardship of public spaces within a structure of Polycentric Governance. …




¹ Our colleague Setha Low has written extensively about this challenge. See for example, Low, S. M. (2011). Claiming space for an engaged anthropology: Spatial inequality and social exclusion. American Anthropologist, 113(3), 389-407.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Public-Private_Place_Management



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA