Kris Larson is President and CEO of Central Houston, Inc., where he works with business, civic, and community leaders to advance the continued growth and vitality of Downtown Houston and the city’s urban core. As the former Board Chair of the International Downtown Association and a longtime leader in downtown and place management, his work spans economic development, public space, transportation, planning, advocacy, and the partnerships needed to build strong and resilient city centers.

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Times Square Alliance

The Times Square Alliance works to improve and promote Times Square, one of the world’s most recognizable urban districts. The organization manages public spaces, provides sanitation and public-safety services, supports businesses, produces events and public art, and advocates for the continued vitality of Times Square as a place for New Yorkers, workers, performers, and visitors from around the world.

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Tim Tompkins

Tim Tompkins is a longtime leader in urban place management and the founder of SharedCity, a consultancy focused on helping cities and downtown organizations create more vibrant, inclusive, and resilient places. Previously President of the Times Square Alliance, his work spans public space, economic development, arts and culture, placemaking, and the evolving role of downtowns in civic life.

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Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs

Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs works to ensure Downtown Colorado Springs remains the economic, civic, and cultural heart of the region. Through economic development, placemaking, advocacy, events, public-space improvements, and support for local businesses, the organization brings together public and private partners to strengthen a vibrant and welcoming downtown.

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Chelsea Gondeck

Chelsea Gondeck is CEO of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, where she works to strengthen Downtown as the economic, civic, and cultural heart of the region. Her work spans placemaking, economic development, mobility, public space, and partnerships, including leading the award-winning transformation of AdAmAn Alley.

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Downtown DC BID

The DowntownDC Business Improvement District works to strengthen the heart of Washington, DC as a vibrant, welcoming, and economically thriving urban center. Its work spans public-space management and activation, economic development, hospitality, events, placemaking, and advocacy, bringing together businesses, property owners, residents, and civic partners to support the continued evolution of downtown.

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Lukas Umana

Lukas Umana is Senior Director of Public Space Operations and Activations at the DowntownDC BID, where he leads work to create clean, safe, vibrant, and memorable public spaces. His work brings together placemaking, public art, events, hospitality, and creative partnerships to strengthen Downtown DC and demonstrate the economic and community value of great public-space experiences

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Kimberly Bares

Kimberly Bares is President and CEO of The Magnificent Mile Association, representing businesses, property owners, institutions, and attractions along Chicago’s iconic North Michigan Avenue. Her work focuses on economic vitality, placemaking, advocacy, public realm improvements, and strengthening the Magnificent Mile as a vibrant destination for Chicagoans and visitors alike.

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Tampa Soul Walk

Tampa Soulwalk is a public art and cultural heritage trail celebrating the stories, people, and places that have shaped Tampa’s Black communities. Connecting murals, historic sites, landmarks, and public spaces across several neighborhoods, the project invites residents and visitors to experience Tampa’s history through art, storytelling, and place.

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Caroline Keesler

Caroline Keesler is part of the team at the Tampa Downtown Partnership, working to support a vibrant, connected, and welcoming Downtown Tampa. Her work includes placemaking, public-space activation, events, and programs that bring people together and strengthen the downtown experience.

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Downtown Tampa Partnership

Tampa Downtown Partnership works to cultivate a vibrant, diverse, and welcoming downtown through programs focused on economic development, public space, transportation, placemaking, and quality of life. Bringing together businesses, residents, civic partners, and community organizations, the Partnership helps shape Downtown Tampa as a connected and active urban center.

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Third Place Makers

Third Place Makers is a placemaking platform founded by Ivy Lupco that explores and advances the people, ideas, and strategies behind vibrant communities and meaningful places. Through its consulting practice and conversations with place-management professionals, it connects ideas with action across placemaking, community engagement, activation, partnerships, and public-realm strategy.

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Ivy Lupco

Ivy Lupco is the founder and principal consultant of Third Place Makers, a Tampa-based placemaking practice focused on creating places where people feel connected and belong. Her work spans public-space activation, community engagement, public art, events, and inclusive urban experiences. She also hosts Third Place Makers Talk a podcast exploring the people, projects, and ideas shaping places and communities across the country.

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Big Swoop

One of Canberra's most loved pieces of public art, Big Swoop is a larger than life sculpture of an Australian magpie pecking a chip.

The cheeky sculpture sits in the city's Petrie Plaza and is a nod to Canberra's unique urban wildlife. It was created by Canberra resident and artist Yanni Pounartzis and unveiled in 2022.

Sitting at 2.4 metres high and 3.5 metres long, Big Swoop is Canberra's contribution to Australia's list of "big things".

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Central Renewal Authority - Cambria, Austraillia

The City Renewal Authority leads the renewal of central Canberra, working across public space, development, placemaking, events, and community engagement to create a more vibrant and welcoming city centre. Its work spans places including Civic, Braddon, Dickson, Haig Park and the Acton Waterfront, with projects ranging from major streetscape improvements to grants, cultural programming and public-space activation.

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Kristi Clark

Kristi Clark is City Place Manager with Canberra’s City Renewal Authority, where she works to make the city centre more active, welcoming, and connected. Drawing on a background in events, performance, and community engagement, her work includes placemaking, programming, public-space activation, and supporting the businesses and communities that bring central Canberra to life

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Careyann Weinberg

Careyann Weinberg is Director of Economic Vitality at the Downtown Norfolk Council, where she leads programs supporting businesses, entrepreneurship, and the continued growth of Downtown Norfolk. Previously the longtime director of Selden Market, an award-winning retail incubator, her work connects small-business development, storefront vitality, placemaking, and community building.

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IDA Emerging Leadership Fellows (ELF)

The International Downtown Association’s Emerging Leader Fellowship is a professional development program for rising leaders in the place-management and urban-district field. The intensive program brings together a cohort of professionals from around the world for leadership development, peer learning, and exploration of the complex challenges facing downtowns and urban places.

Beyond the formal program, the Fellowship builds a lasting network of practitioners working across business improvement districts, downtown organizations, economic development, placemaking, and related fields—strengthening both individual leaders and the broader profession.

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Sheffia Randall-Nickerson

Sheffia Randall-Nickerson, MBA is currently the Chief Engagement and Collaboration Officer at University Circle Inc., the community service corporation responsible for developing, serving and advocating for University Circle as a vibrant and complete neighborhood. Sheffia also held the positions as President and CEO of the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, a non-profit arts education organization and Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Education at Playhouse Square in the center of the Cleveland Theatre District.

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Kate Borders

Kate Borders is President of University Circle Inc., the community development organization serving Cleveland’s University Circle district. Her work focuses on strengthening one of the country’s most significant concentrations of cultural, educational, and healthcare institutions through placemaking, economic development, transportation, public space, and community partnerships.

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University Circle

University Circle is a busy cultural hub with institutions like the Cleveland Natural History Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, a modern mirrored structure with regularly changing exhibitions. Severance Hall hosts performances by the Cleveland Orchestra, and paths wind past roses and maple trees at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Casual college bars, ramen joints and Asian fusion eateries dot the area.

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Alternating Current

Alternating Currents is an annual arts and cultural festival held throughout Downtown Davenport and the Quad Cities, bringing music, comedy, film, and visual art into venues and public spaces across the urban core. Produced by the Downtown Davenport Partnership, the festival showcases local and regional talent while inviting people to explore downtown businesses, places, and neighborhoods through the arts.

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Kyle Carter

Kyle Carter is Vice President of Place at the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, where he leads work focused on creating vibrant, welcoming places across the bi-state region of Iowa and Illinois. His work connects downtown development, placemaking, public spaces, arts and culture, and economic vitality to strengthen communities throughout the Quad Cities.

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Quad Cities Chamber

The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce works across the bi-state region of Iowa and Illinois to support businesses, strengthen the regional economy, and advance a more vibrant community. Its work spans economic development, business advocacy, talent attraction, placemaking, and initiatives that support the region’s downtowns and commercial districts.

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Downtown San Diego Partnership

The Downtown San Diego Partnership is a nonprofit organization that serves as the principal voice and driving force behind the economic prosperity and cultural vitality of Downtown San Diego. It also serves as the managing organization for several special districts including the Property and Business Improvement District, otherwise known as the Clean & Safe program, that provides essential public services in the 275 blocks of Downtown.

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Downtown Toronto BIA Alliance

The Downtown Toronto BIA Alliance brings together six of Toronto’s leading Business Improvement Areas to strengthen the economic vitality, public spaces, and cultural vibrancy of the city’s core. Through collective advocacy, urban innovation, and cross-sector collaboration, the Alliance works to ensure downtown Toronto remains a thriving, inclusive, and dynamic place to live, work, and visit.

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Betsy Brennan

Betsy Brennan is President & CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, where she leads efforts to strengthen Downtown San Diego as a vibrant, welcoming, and economically resilient urban center. Her work brings together business, civic, and community partners around everything from economic development and public space to clean-and-safe programs, mobility, and the downtown experience.

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Bloor West Village BIA

Established in 1970, Bloor West Village became the world’s first Business Improvement Area, pioneering a model for collective investment in commercial districts that has since spread around the world. Today, the BIA continues to support its Toronto neighborhood through beautification, events, marketing, advocacy, and initiatives that strengthen the local business community.

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International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association (IDA) is the leading global membership organization for people and organizations working to manage, strengthen, and shape downtowns and urban districts. Founded in 1954, IDA connects the growing field of urban place management, including downtown associations, business improvement districts, public agencies, and other place-based organizations.

Through conferences, research, professional development, and peer networks, IDA helps practitioners share strategies for economic development, public-space management, planning, events, organizational leadership, and advocacy—work that happens where policy, culture, commerce, and everyday urban life meet.

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3 Questions in Toronto

Dispatches From The International Downtown Association Conference and Marketplace

Featured in this Episode

3 Questions in Toronto

Dispatches From The International Downtown Association Conference and Marketplace

Featured in this Episode

Mexico City and the Labor of Public Space

Small Block - Shifting the Ground