Overview

In intercept surveys we conducted during Local Center activation events in public spaces across New York City, 100% of respondents reported feeling safer and more connected, and that the space felt livelier.

From 2023 to 2024, Urban Design Forum and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) came together on a project called the Local Center to create meaningful opportunities for community leaders, designers, and city agencies to design places that center community visions – resulting in more just and joyful public spaces across the city. Across the five boroughs, Local Center teams realized ambitious projects. They supported local small businesses by starting outdoor markets, improved commercial corridors through cultural signage and creative lighting installations, and built neighborhood identity and pride.

In this publication, we lay out what our teams accomplished, demonstrate their impact on their communities, and propose ideas for how to scale and deepen this work. Read on and download the full report above to learn more about the Local Center and why public space matters in community development.

How We Worked

First, Urban Design Forum and ANHD invited local organizations serving historically disinvested neighborhoods across the five boroughs to share their visions for public space, tapping into ANHD’s broad network of community development organizations. Next, we put out a call to Urban Design Forum’s network to recruit teams of designers, planners, engineers, and lawyers to support each partner. We supported neighborhood partners to interview and select their collaborators to ensure values alignment. 

We provided seed funding from $125,000-$175,000 to support neighborhood partner capacity, low-bono design team honorarium, and project implementation. We also connected teams to government agencies to navigate permitting processes. 

Teams developed creative community engagement strategies to learn from neighborhood residents about their ideas for the future of their public spaces. Many teams developed stakeholder groups including representatives from local social service organizations, cultural institutions, and  elected officials.

Based on what they heard, design teams designed and built temporary installations that demonstrated what is possible in neighborhood parks, plazas, and streets: outdoor markets, shading structures, lighting installations, modular arts hubs, and more. Neighborhood partners used the installations to program the spaces with cultural events and community resource days. 

Design teams created vision plans and visual toolkits that captured the ideas and priorities of community members in each neighborhood. These documents will now serve as a critical tool to facilitate future work and advocate for deeper investment. 

Through these projects, local leaders, designers, and residents connected with their neighbors and built power to advocate for better public spaces together. 

Our Impact

Our Ideas for Action

For all New York City neighborhoods to have the power and resources to shape their futures, we believe something bigger needs to change. In the “Our Ideas for Action” section of the report, you’ll find specific recommendations for City Hall, city agencies, funders, community-based organizations, and the design community. We address each separately and charge them with implementing a set of broad strategies, complemented by tactical ideas, to make progress towards the city we want to see. 

We see a role for everyone, but especially those with significant power and resources to champion a new way of envisioning, designing, and caring for public space that is led by the people who know it best. By redesigning our systems and investments to center the neighborhoods that have been most overlooked, the whole city will benefit.

What's Next for the Local Center

To achieve equitable public spaces, we need our most disinvested communities at the helm. The Local Center is building a new model to invest in public spaces in low-income neighborhoods across New York City. 

We are continuing to support our partners to fundraise for deeper investment, meaningfully engage with the capital pipeline, explore stewardship opportunities in their neighborhoods, and take on more ambitious projects. Beyond our current partners, we are building a model to resource neighborhood leaders at all levels of experience to activate their public spaces. From neighborhood leaders who are new to public realm stewardship, to experienced advocates, all need resources, capacity-building, and connections to advance their visions and a pipeline to sustain their leadership in public spaces. 

Supporters

The Local Center’s Rooted Cultures projects are made possible with lead support from the Mellon Foundation and with additional major support from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

The Local Center’s Connected Corridors projects are made possible with support from National Grid’s Project C, Department of Small Business Services, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Deutsche Bank, the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund, administered by City Parks Foundation, and Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

The Local Center is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Our programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

About the Local Center

The Local Center equips local leaders with technical assistance, funding, and connections to reclaim public spaces in their communities.

Learn more at:
urbandesignforum.org/initiative/the-local-center/