Event description:

In the face of economic hardship, how can cities capitalize on their inherent creative ingenuity and create place in low-cost, immediate and hyperlocal ways?

Join us Tuesday, February 8th for the launch of our new series on Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper Placemaking keynoted by Marcus Westbury, founder of Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia.

When Marcus Westbury began the Renew Newcastle initiative in late 2008, building owners would not return his calls because the tax write offs outweighed the meager rents their Central Business Disctric real-estate was yielding. In the two years since, Westbury recruited and incubated over 60 artisanal businesses transforming the district into the heart of one of Lonely Planet's Top 10 Cities in the World for 2011.

Marcus Westbury will discuss the low-cost, high return strategies that transformed Newcastle as well as the Renew Australia initiative he has founded to catalyze similar creative culture-based revitalization in cities around the country. The event will also examine the “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” movement that is transforming cities around the world through an array of interventions that can revitalize spaces with a fraction of the investment that communities would spend through traditional planning and development. These include flexible approaches to development, experiments in re-allocating street space, pop-up uses and architecture, local markets, public art and public events that efficiently enable an enriching urban experience.

When: Tuesday February 8, 2011, 6:00 pm to 8pm
Where: Project for Public Spaces, 700 Broadway 4th Floor, New York, NY 10003
Cost: Free, wine and light fare provided

6:00 Cocktails and Light Fare

6:30 Introductory remarks by:
PPS Founder and President Fred Kent,
Eldon Scott founder of Urban Space
Tony Goldman CEO of Goldman Properties

6:45 Renew Australia Revitalization Presentation by Founder Marcus Westbury

7:30 Discussion

What Is “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” Placemaking?

“Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” is a phrase we borrowed from Eric Reynolds at Urban Space Management – we use it to describe interventions that produce immediate results, transforming underused urban spaces into exciting laboratories that reward citizens with authentic places and provide a boost to areas in need. These projects provide a powerful means of translating community visioning into physical reality and keeping momentum moving. Ideas can be implemented, assessed, then tweaked and customized based upon the community’s reception.

Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper Demonstration Projects can take many forms requiring varying degrees of scale, costs and permanence.  Each of these types of projects can help create the foundation for the success of the next.

• Amenities & Public Art  - short-term, low-cost interventions to seed places
• Event Based Interventions - recurring, experimental programs to build momentum
• Interim Public Spaces - semi-permanent public space activation plans to establish places before (or instead of) large capital projects.
• Light Development - inexpensive structures and low-overhead retail uses that anchor activity and culturally creative uses.

Project for Public Spaces
700 Broadway
Fl 4
New York, NY 10003

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)