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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chelsea Ritter-Soronen is a multi-disciplinary visual artist, small business owner and public arts consultant. She is the Founding Principal of Ground Shift Studio, a mural company specializing in pavement art, established in 2013 (originally named Chalk Riot).

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.

The Arts in the Right-of-Way (AROW) program facilitates art in the public right-of-way which is owned and maintained by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). Examples of AROW projects include various forms of art on public amenities and facilities such as bike racks, utility boxes, and pedestrian areas. AROW projects can be implemented directly by DDOT or by eligible non-DDOT entities via a public space permit.

Color the Curb is a joint agency project between DDOT, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), and DC Public Schools (DCPS). Color the Curb is a subset of DDOT's Arts in the Right-of-Way (AROW) program, which supports designs that transform intersections into works of art to increase the safety and visibility of pedestrians while adding visual interest to the area.

The Southwest Business Improvement District (SWBID) serves the area south of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., using public art and creative placemaking as central tools for shaping the neighborhood’s public realm. Through murals, artist collaborations, temporary installations, and other creative interventions, SWBID brings color, storytelling, and a distinct sense of place to streets, sidewalks, and shared spaces throughout Southwest.

The United States-Japan Foundation (USJF) is an independent philanthropic organization working to strengthen bilateral ties and address shared challenges. We empower next-generation leaders and fund innovative initiatives, catalyzing collaboration and exchange among stakeholders in search of solutions.

Uchimizu (打ち水) is a traditional Japanese practice of sprinkling water on streets, sidewalks, and other outdoor surfaces to cool the surrounding area. As the water evaporates, it draws heat from the pavement and air, offering a simple, low-tech response to hot weather. Historically, the practice has also been associated with suppressing dust and welcoming guests.

Rahul Kadri is an architect and urbanist whose work explores the relationship between cities, landscape, and public life. As Partner and Principal Architect at IMK Architects, he led the creation of Mumbai’s Malabar Hill Forest Trail, transforming an overlooked hillside into an elevated walk through the city’s urban forest.

Christopher Alexander was an architect, designer, and theorist whose work explored a deceptively simple question: why do some places feel alive while others don’t? Best known for A Pattern Language, Alexander developed an approach to architecture and city-making centered on the recurring patterns through which people inhabit, shape, and give life to places.

The Malabar Hill Forest Trail is an elevated nature trail winding through a wooded hillside in one of Mumbai’s densest neighborhoods. Designed by IMK Architects, the project creates public access to an overlooked urban ecosystem while minimizing disturbance to the forest floor.

IMK Architects is a Mumbai-based architecture and urban design practice with a long history of work across institutional, residential, civic, and public-space projects. Led by Rahul Kadri, the firm’s work includes the Malabar Hill Forest Trail, an elevated public path through one of Mumbai’s urban forests.

Don Lane’s month-long celebration of ice cream, small pleasures, and the places that create them. During July 2026, he traveled across California visiting nearly 100 independent ice cream shops—not to rank them, but to celebrate everyday sources of joy in communities across the state.