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.
Sheila Foster
Sheila Foster is a leading scholar of cities, democracy, and the urban commons. Her work explores how communities share responsibility for the public spaces, institutions, and resources that shape everyday life—and how collective stewardship can make cities more equitable, democratic, and inclusive.
Palaces for the People
In Palaces for the People, sociologist Eric Klinenberg explores the power of social infrastructure—the libraries, parks, markets, and gathering places that build relationships, strengthen communities, and support civic life. A compelling argument for investing in the places that bring people together.
Hyperlocal
Hyperlocal examines the growing world of place-based governance—from business improvement districts and community land trusts to neighborhood councils. By looking at these organizations as an interconnected field, the book explores their potential to shape more responsive, inclusive communities—and the complicated questions of representation, resources, accountability, and power that come with them.
Kathy Madden
Kathy Madden was a co-founder of Project for Public Spaces and one of the pioneers of the modern placemaking movement. For more than four decades, she helped turn the careful observation of how people actually use public space into practical tools that communities around the world could use to make better places.