Project for Public Spaces

{{Short description|Nonprofit organization}}

{{Notability|Organizations|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox non-profit

| name = Project for Public Spaces

| formation = 1975

| headquarters = Brooklyn, New York

| website = https://www.pps.org/

}}

Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit organization based in New York dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities, in an effort often termed placemaking.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/nyregion/thecity/06stre.html Byles, Jeff: "Taking Back the Streets"], in The New York Times April 6, 2008, retrieved 3 April 2010

Planning and design rooted in the community form the cornerstone of PPS's work. Building on the techniques of William H. Whyte's "Street Life Project" and the book and film The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, this approach involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the people in a community to discover their needs and aspirations. It was founded in 1975{{Cite web |last=Design |first=Bruce Mau |title=Project for Public Spaces |url=https://www.brucemaudesign.com/work/project-for-public-spaces |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Bruce Mau Design |language=en}} by Fred Kent.{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-76751998.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917170629/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-76751998.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 September 2017|title=Turning public space around|last=Festing|first=Harrier|date=1 May 2001|work=Town and Country Planning |accessdate=17 September 2017}}

Some projects include the redesign of congested intersections in New York to be used for public use (including Times Square and Astor Place). This project was set into motion by Ethan Kent, a 22-year employee with PPS.{{Cite web |title=Ethan Kent '98 Discusses Remaking Spaces with the Placemaking Movement |url=https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2023/02/ethan-kent-on-remaking-spaces-with-placemaking-movement.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=News |language=en}}