CREJ

20 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / December 2020 R egardless of how you look at it, pri- vate real estate de- velopment is responsible for the lion’s share of city-build- ing, at least in North America. In fact, under 20% of American cities’ general land area is publicly owned – far below the suggested baseline of 45% advanced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Taken on its face, this is a seemingly insurmountable issue for advocates of public realm and public life — one that would take an entire reworking of our le- gal and economic development framework to change. Rather than a “tear the system down” approach, considering amore nuanced approach can lead to a win-win situation for all involved in the existing urban ecosystem. We think of this as “public life first” design. At the end of the day, a high-quality public realm is one of the core differentiators in urban develop- ment projects – from singular buildings to urban infill districts, revitalization of existing places to en- tire new neighborhoods. The return on investment in the public realm comes from all angles. Economically, investment in the public realm has an impact on retail success, higher lease rates, low- er vacancy and greater property value at sale. While these are all things the private sector wants to see, the benefits don’t stop there. Culturally, the public realmcan lead to better social cohesion, more active and healthy lifestyles, and social and artistic expres- sion that provides identity to a place. Environmen- tally, the public realm – especially when given over to high-functioning landscape – can reduce urban heat island effect, clean stormwater, sequester car- bon and provide habitat. While the list of benefits can go on and is well documented, what’s less obvious to many is the way the design of the public realm impacts private development, and is in turn impacted by private de- velopment. • Harnessing the power of public-private partner- ships. The public realmnot only encompasses parks, plazas, greenways or squares, but also the definition includes streets, alleys and all the other interstitial spaces in our cities. This category of space refers to roughly the first 30 feet around a building, extend- ing right up to the façade of a building. The tools in the public realm design toolkit vary by project scale and type, but there are two distinct ways that public realm and private development tend to manifest: The first is privately owned pub- lic realm which, in its most formal occurrence, can look like the POPS (privately owned public spaces) of New York City, but, informally, might include any plaza, alley or sidewalk space that is publicly acces- sible, but privately owned. The second is publicly owned land that receives private funding in some fashion. In most cities, including Denver, there are exam- ples of both of these circumstances, and each has its purpose. To achieve a great, comprehensive public realm, cities must rely on and partner with private development. To achieve great projects, developers must invest in the public realm. Both of these to- gether, create great cities. • Capturing value through private development of the public realm. From a private development perspective, this means placing a project in its con- text and beginning to think about the less tangible things like sidewalk interactions, pop-up festivals, and casual passers-by at the same time you are thinking of unit counts, net leasable area or parking ratios. In certain circumstances, it can be argued that connection to place should be considered well be- fore those more traditional developer metrics. For example, the urban design plan Sasaki is crafting with the McWhinney development team for the Center Street District in the growing Baseline Com- munity placed user experience at the core, resulting in a plan that is largely driven by public realm and daily activation. Joshua Brooks, ASLA, PLA Director, Sasaki The Space Between Private Interest/Public Good: Start Design with Public Life in Mind Anna Cawrse, ASLA, PLA Director, Sasaki Urban districts grounded in their context and landscape have a strong public realm framework connecting them to natural processes, distant views and user experiences.