The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide

The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide is a growing collection of people, organizations, projects, books, ideas and ongoing conversations about cities and the people who shape them. It grows out of the podcast, but extends well beyond it—connecting the people doing the work, the places where it’s happening, and the ideas, experiments and resources worth carrying forward. Think of it as part reference library, part trail of breadcrumbs: a way to follow the conversation wherever it leads.

Explore by type, browse alphabetically or by date, or search for something specific. Follow the tags to discover connections—or explore the map to see where the people, projects and ideas in the Field Guide take us.

Chip Chip 8/25/26 Chip Chip 8/25/26

Groundshift Studios

Ground Shift Studio is a Washington, D.C.-based public art and consulting studio working at the intersection of art, transportation, and climate resilience. Founded by artist and urbanist Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, the studio treats the ground beneath our feet—streets, sidewalks, plazas, and other paved surfaces—as both a canvas and a piece of public infrastructure.

Chip Chip 7/4/26 Chip Chip 7/4/26

Why Public Space Matters

Drawing on decades of ethnographic research around the world, Setha Low examines how public spaces contribute to belonging, social connection, justice, and democratic life—and why the everyday experience of plazas, parks, markets, beaches, and sidewalks matters to individual and collective flourishing.

Chip Chip 6/15/26 Chip Chip 6/15/26

Creative Placemaking

Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa’s landmark 2010 report helped define creative placemaking: using arts and culture as active tools in shaping communities. Drawing on projects across the country, it examines how cross-sector partnerships can animate places, strengthen local economies, and build community identity.

Chip Chip 4/14/26 Chip Chip 4/14/26

The jeepney: a history, and hopefully, a future

This essay from Filipeanut traces the evolution of the Philippine jeepney from prewar jitneys and autocalesas through the repurposing of American military jeeps after World War II and their emergence as one of the country’s most recognizable forms of public transportation. It explores the jeepney as both a remarkably accessible, locally created transit system and an expression of Filipino culture, while examining the difficult questions of pollution, safety, affordability, livelihoods, and cultural heritage raised by efforts to modernize the fleet.