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.
Placemaking for Children and Youth
Victoria Derr, Louise Chawla, and Mara Mintzer offer a practical guide to involving children and young people in urban planning and design. Drawing on international examples, the book combines principles, case studies, and methods for meaningful, ethical, and inclusive youth participation.
Coexistence in Public Space
Developed by SPUR and Gehl through work at San José’s Guadalupe River Park, Coexistence in Public Space asks how parks and public spaces can provide joy, belonging, and safety for everyone—including people experiencing homelessness. Its central proposition is simple but powerful: What if we designed public space for coexistence rather than exclusion?
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.
Nate Storring
Nate Storring is Co-Executive Director of Project for Public Spaces, where his work focuses on placemaking, public-space stewardship, and engaging people in urban planning and design through storytelling. He has helped shape PPS research and resources on inclusive placemaking, innovation districts, and place governance, and is co-editor of Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World and Vital Little Plans: The Short Works of Jane Jacobs. Before joining PPS in 2015, Nate produced exhibitions and public programs exploring cities, architecture, and transportation in Toronto, Chicago, Boston, and Rhode Island.