The Space LabCreating great, SAFE public spaces for everyone

Event Summary,

Observations and Opportunities

Prepared by: Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council

January 2012

Event Planning Group: Sue Weare (City of Kitchener), Tracy Suerich (City of Waterloo), Carol Popovic

(Region of Waterloo, Public Health), Kate Daley (Resident) Reg Weber (City of Cambridge), Juanita Metzger (Region of Waterloo, Crime Prevention Council)

With notes from: Nadine Bengert (BSW Student, WRCPC) and Heather McColeman (MSW Student, City of Kitchener)

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In October 2011, the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, along with the seven area municipalities in Waterloo Region hosted

The Space Lab, a public talk and workshop focused on ‘placemaking’ as a community engagement process for creating safer public spaces and preventing crime. Our guest presenter and facilitator for both events was Cynthia Nikitin of the organization, Project for Public Spaces, New York (PPS). Cynthia’s area of focus is public buildings, and downtowns/civic centres.

The objective of this event was to introduce the concept of crime prevention via public space design and provide municipal leaders, senior staff from various sectors and interested community members with an opportunity for dialogue, as well as some useful tools on how to create and change public spaces that support a prevention-based approach to safer communities.

What is Placemaking? (from session notes and PPS PowerPoint presentation)

Placemaking is any collaborative actions that improve the physical, economic and social health of cities and neighbourhoods that often result in increased activity and interaction, trust and cohesion, engagement and feelings of safety as well as reduced crime and/or social disorder and fear of crime.

Placemaking, as a general rule, tends to focus on actions and changes that build community to encourage legitimate activity and interactions rather than focus on deterring less desirable activity through security measures. Placemaking creates great, safe public spaces, genuine engagement and connection, partnership, shared vision and lastly, monetary resources.

Why Placemaking?Leading up to the event, many people asked us “What does public space have to do with crime prevention, and what does ‘placemaking’ have to do with any of this?”

Think of it this way: We have all had experiences where you arrive in a public space, whether it’s public transit, a building, an outdoor plaza, a street or alley, a market, a park or trail, and it just doesn’t feel comfortable. It just doesn’t feel right. You want to get out of there just as fast as you can. You may even see activity that validates your feelings of fearfulness.

Now, here’s the important connection to crime prevention: Cynthia Nikitin made it clear that addressing the physical environment of a place can have a direct impact on the behaviour and activity that happens there – positively or negatively. When public spaces are built such that the level of human activity is appropriate to the location, a reduced risk of crime and increased sense of safety is the result. Public spaces and places that promote community ownership, respect, territorial responsibility and community are ultimately more successful than places and spaces that focus only on ‘safety infrastructure’ (street lighting, sight lines, height of trees and shrubs, border definition, signage, surveillance, video surveillance, access control, etc). A successful, great, safe public area has a ‘sense of place’ that, according to PPS, is created based on sociability, access and linkage, comfort and image as well as its uses and activities.

The Space Lab

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Here’s another intersection between crime

prevention and public space: Community

and personal safety are basic requirements

of life for all humans. ‘Unsafety’ in our homes,

neighbourhoods or communities threatens

quality of life. Safety is a complex issue as it has

personal, community and broader societal layers

and interactions. Safety is no longer equated only

with crime control, but rather, the presence or

absence of safety is linked to the sustainability

of communities and neighbourhoods. By natural

extension, as members of our communities

and neighbourhoods, individuals have as much responsibility for creating safe places as do the municipal organizations and institutions who manage our public environments.

Placemaking - four parts process, one part end result - provides a healthy way for citizens, formal organizations and municipalities to engage in meaningful process for creating great, safe public spaces. Ultimately, placemaking is about creating more liveable places and spaces that are people-oriented and engagement-oriented rather than just utilitarian spaces.

What makes a great place? (PPS Image)Reproduced with permission from Project for Public Spaces

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In the public talk and workshop given by Cynthia Nikitin, she addressed obstacles and challenges to effective citizen engagement. We have all seen the tension and conflict that arises over discussion, planning and design of public spaces. Recognizing that public places are complex and dynamic ecosystems, a microcosm of community life, conflict and tension about their use, change and development are inevitable. The solutions to these complex problems are never simple either, but once implemented, they look simple to everyone!

When public spaces are created from a placemaking perspective, the process shifts from one of designing to fix a problem to creating a place that serves the community. There are a series of great questions to ask in order to help project focus on developing a sense of place. Does the place:

• build or contribute to the local economy (small scale)?

• enhance & promote accessibility?

• draw a diverse population? • foster meaningful interaction

among the people who go there?

• improve safety and security? • nurture a sense of community?

The Space Lab

Reproduced with permission from Project for Public Spaces

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At The Space Lab workshop with Cynthia Nikitin (Knox Presbyterian Church), participants had the opportunity to visit and evaluate various public spaces with respect to the various elements of great places (i.e. sociability, access and linkage, comfort and image, uses and activities). Groups were divided between five public place destinations (future LRT stop, community garden, Iron Horse Trail, Uptown Waterloo, intensification area) and guided through the use of a “Safe Place Audit”.

Based on the Safe Place Audit, groups were then led through a short discussion period to reflect on:

• Changes that could be made to improve the space and that wouldn’t cost a lot

• Three long term changes that would reduce the risk factors for unsafety

• Local partnerships or local talent that could increase the protective factors or reduce the risk factors for unsafety

Based on the notes, comments and completed safe place audits, the general consensus was that the five public spaces visited do have many elements of safe public spaces but that they could move to ‘great’ public spaces by enhancing several components requiring minimal cost, time or energy. Appendix A, attached to this report, outlines a more detailed summary of the notes and discussion from the safe place audit groups. If you are interested in the specific compiled data and notes from a particular group, please contact us and we will be happy to share them with you.

OpportunitiesFeedback from The Space Lab event indicated that ideas of placemaking and creating safe public spaces helped to turn on some light bulbs, invigorating energy for latent ideas and stimulating ideas for potential points of connection in the near future. While The Space Lab did not have the mandate to write formal recommendations, feedback and discussion during and following the event has resulted in a number of reflections that could be shared as opportunities for action by our municipalities, communities and neighbourhoods. Some of the opportunities listed below are specific, task oriented items or tools that could be taken on by any community group or neighbourhood. Others are more foundational process issues with respect to the way communities and municipalities can work together on placemaking projects for creating safer public spaces. The opportunities listed below are in no particular order.

• Consider foot traffic: Increasing pedestrian activity and traffic to an area is one of the single most effective factors for improving safety and the feeling of safety in a public space. Given this, each placemaking initiative needs to intentionally create a place that will naturally draw pedestrians (cyclists, walkers, transit users). A mix of uses will draw a variety of different users to the space so that no one activity dominates, positively or negatively.

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• Inclusion: Public spaces should intentionally foster inclusion for similar reasons mentioned above.

• Engage the community earlier: As was noted by Cynthia Nikitin, so many public space projects are driven by problem based thinking and driven by the source or partner with the most resources – who’s footing the bill. Conversely, starting from an asset based perspective, and engaging citizens in the process sooner will yield better results with a stronger sense of community ownership.

Rather than consultation on Plan A or B drawn up by an expert, start with the broader questions of: “What do you want to see here?” “What can we do that builds the local economy, enhances and promotes accessibility, draws a diverse population, fosters interaction, improves safety and security and nurtures a sense of community?” “What resources does the community have/want to contribute (volunteer labour, donated expertise, financial contributions) that could amplify the results of the project?”

• Commit to genuine engagement: The community engagement process is not always the most efficient process – it can be messy and chaotic, as anyone working with community has most likely experienced – but, it will ultimately yield better results than a rigid, prescriptive process.

• Focus on engaging people as citizens: The community must be engaged in a civic engagement process, as citizens, rather than as tax payers. This allows the process to leverage collective wisdom, creativity and experience for better decision making in planning and use of public space.

• Develop an engagement framework: It is wise for municipalities to develop guidelines and principles for civic engagement on public space projects rather than rigid procedures. Critical to effective engagement principles is the commitment to removing obstacles and barriers for neighbourhoods and communities in order to release their creative capacity. Pulling away the red tape does wonders for getting citizens to engage from a positive, strengths based perspective. Several municipalities have this type of framework in place.

• Try a different process: Lighter, quicker, cheaper – this is a motto and method used by PPS. Use short term experiments that refined over time, with evaluation, can lead to long term investments. Ultimately, choose a process to match the scale/size of the project underway. In many cases it is possible to make small, light-weight, low-cost changes to fix a problem area while larger plans are underway. There’s no quicker way to kill momentum than over planning.

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• TOOL: The Power of 10 – another concept developed by PPS. This can be applied at the micro level of a neighbourhood or street or at a broader community level. PPS has additional resources on their website for using this concept as a community engagement process.

• TOOL: The Safe Place Audit – presenter Cynthia Nikitin has granted permission for members of our community to use the Safe Place Audit tool in our own neighbourhoods and community. This is best applied at the micro level of a specific neighbourhood place or street. You can download the Safe Place Audit tool here.

• TOOL: Safety Audit Toolkit – there are many safety audit tools out there. Municipalities could develop a safety audit toolkit for use with neighbourhoods, then provide support to the neighbourhood to assist with making changes and improvements.

• Support long term investment in healthy public spaces: Public spaces need to be managed just like our public and civic buildings have a management presence. This is often the case for very large public spaces, or places that have numerous multiple uses. Another way to

think about the management of public spaces is ‘animation’. If a place is animated with both formal and informal activity, the natural surveillance of a place is heightened. Without good management or animation, a place can quickly become a dysfunctional or unsafe place – in reality, or perceived reality.

• Stop creating single purpose spaces/places: Often single purpose spaces don’t attract enough diversity of users and activities and confusion results over who actually has ‘ownership’ or ‘responsibility’ for a space so it falls todysfunction or undesirable

activity. When there is reason for more, different groups of people to use a space, it will attract a variety of different people. An example used during the workshop related to the new Regional Transit Hub being planned for the corner of King & Victoria streets, Kitchener. Cynthia Nikitin pondered that it could be an extremely successful place if it is designed as a public space for people – “that just so happens to have trains and buses stopping every few minutes rather then a single purpose space only for buses and trains”.

Reproduced with permission from Project for Public Spaces

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• TOOL: Public education campaign – Public spaces can cause tension in a community when there are issues, real or perceived, about specific groups of people or certain types of activity in a public space. A public education campaign emphasizing that public space is there for everyone (inclusion) could focus on the positive, sociability aspect of public space and civility of use rather than prescriptions on how to behave or use a particular place. It’s important to reinforce the positive behaviour at all times, not only when there are problems.

• TOOL: Support community initiative – Municipalities can find creative and lightweight ways to support community led placemaking projects or initiatives with minimal red tape i.e. neighbourhood matching funds, Festival of Neighbourhoods (City of Kitchener + partners), how-to guide for neighbourhoods wanting to undertake a project, etc.

• Placemaking in ‘private’ public spaces is a growing reality for urban centre: As our city cores intensify with greater residential and commercial development, many places that look like public space (courtyards, walkways, etc.) are actually private space. There are endless possibilities for our municipalities to work together with developers to ensure that public space is preserved in increasingly dense places and that the spaces are created in a way that enhances sociability, improves access and linkage to other places, creates a pleasing, comfortable image, and stimulates creative uses and activities.

• Continue to explore placemaking concepts for our community: Placemaking certainly resonated with attendees of The Space Lab event which included a broad cross section of people from municipal leaders, public health planners, private practice architects, urban planners, community leaders, municipal staff, neighbourhood associations, community planners, transportation planners, community advocates, etc. Where possible, participants are encouraged to bring the ideas of placemaking to bear in their work and share the associated resources. As indicated via the post-event feedback, if the opportunity arises, future events focused on placemaking and engaging the community would be well received.

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Do you have further observations about opportunities for action as a result of The Space Lab? Have you already developed projects with a placemaking lens or element to it? We would love to hear them so that we can share them. Drop a line to Juanita Metzger (jmetzger@regionofwaterloo.ca) or give a call 519.883.2306.

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Appendix A: Discussion, Notes and Summarized Findings from the Safe Place Audit Exercise

At the second day Space Lab workshop with Cynthia Nikitin (Knox Presbyterian Church), participants had the opportunity to visit and evaluate various public spaces within our community with respect to the various elements of great places (i.e. sociability, access and linkage, comfort and image, as well as its uses and activities). Groups were divided between five public place destinations: future LRT stop, community garden, Iron Horse Trail, uptown Waterloo, and residential intensification area. Groups used the Safe Place Audit to review each site and help with the formulation of suggested changes or improvements. With these guidelines, the majority of responses from groups documented the need to take existing public spaces and to enhance them though basic measure requiring minimal cost.

Immediate actions meeting this criteria included organizing neighbourhood clean-ups to pick up and remove litter, as well as connecting with Public Works departments to provide adequate waste disposal i.e. deep-well garbage receptacles and recycling containers and to situate these in key locations particularly at entrances and exits and in close proximity to high use areas of any given space.

Beyond the general beautification of public space in regard to litter and debris, groups also identified the greening of spaces to be a crucial element in creating great, safe places: improving

sightlines, adding vegetation (either permanent or portable), naturalizing the environment where possible and landscaping using undergrowth 3 feet or lower and foliage higher than 8 feet so as to allow for unobstructed visibility and to limit blind corners and unclear path networks. It was also suggested that public areas should contain at least one natural, and ideally interactive, feature within the green space such as a fountain or snow sculpture.

A third effort frequently suggested by groups was to significantly increase the means of way-finding within public spaces and to maintain these valuable tools as they are the mechanism by which people maximize and expand their use of such areas. This action required implementing destination signs as well as information signage both centrally and along the boundaries of a space. Other suggestions included clarifying parking signs, using banners more effectively, enhancing business facades and implementing digital or electronic transit advertising or bus information at high traffic bus stops.

The issue of lighting was also dominant in both the discussion and audit notes of The Space Lab participants. The importance of adequate lighting came up repeatedly, particularly in regard to public spaces such as parks and trails and the downtown core. The necessity of illumination in these areas was to create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere and to deter feelings of isolation and the presence of dark alleys or areas that could be subverted by inappropriate and unsuitable activities not conducive to great, safe public places.

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Finally, a fifth modification that was recommended to improve public places that could be completed in a short timeframe with minimal cost and which would secure a greater feeling of safety would be to work with current retail and business owners within the various areas to expand their hours and services to establish the area as a destination where all residents of the community would gather. Participants of the workshop wanted to see public space transformed to include more and varied seating for entertainment such as buskers, murals, art displays, musicians or other performers, as well as fairs, festivals, and events. They also wanted more food services available beyond restaurants, such as edge use patios and cafes as well as concession booths and food trucks. Another request was to focus on community engagement and to develop activities or programs within public spaces to provide residents with a variety of things to do and subsequently create an animated people presence.

When asked about what long-term changes could be made to the various sites to reduce risk factors and ensure safety, group responses were much more varied, although many of the above themes were reiterated. Altogether, the data collected from all 5 groups outlined paving and widening of sidewalks, increase in edge uses, enhancement of pedestrian crossways and traffic calming as measures they would like to see implemented in the not so distant future.

Cynthia Nikitin commenced her public talk and subsequent workshop of The Space Lab event with a single question: “What if we built our cities and towns around places?” Certainly recognizing public places and creating or modifying them to

become more accessible, beautified and sociable multi-use destinations is beneficial. Yet beyond these more obvious reasons for the creation of great places is the value that it has in regards to safety.

Public places are a microcosm of our greater community and as such, can be an indicator of the health and well-being of our society. It has been well documented that perceptions of crime can be just as detrimental to a community as the reality of crime itself.

One strategy to address the fear of crime is to reduce signs of physical and social disorder. Therefore, while clearing refuse and debris from our parks, trails, sidewalks and green spaces may be a beautification measure, adequate sanitation and cleanliness also removes the detrimental perception that filth and disorderliness rouses. An uncared for environment, including dilapidated or abandoned buildings creates the ideal backdrop for undesirable activities. On the other hand, a clean space free of refuse that is well-maintained can serve to attract members of the community, whose very presence in a public space is another facet that deters crime while also diminishing the perception of crime.

The balance of vegetation within a space also plays an important role in crime prevention. Too much forestation can provide opportunities for concealment whereas too little will result in an uninviting and poorly used landscape. If an area includes dense understory vegetation and densely wooded areas this will provide a screen and limit escape opportunities and consequently little used by the most at risk populations such

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as the elderly, children, and women although the criminal element will have no such issue encroaching on this space. If a space is landscaped and well-maintained, providing good sightlines into and thru the location with clearly defined paths and walkways instead of obstructed views and amorphous trails it will be viewed as a setting that encourages a sense of orderliness and security. Thus, by designing appealing parks and greenways with public safety in mind, crime is being both prevented and reduced.

Without adequate way-finding measures the public will be unable maximize their usage of public space. Nothing is more frustrating than not knowing your way or being lost and if residents of the community cannot negotiate a place because directional or informational signage is lacking they will use that space less often and stay for shorter durations than if they have familiarity or a clear and obvious means of understanding the area and what it has to offer. The more people use a space and connect with one another, the more likely it is that criminals will feel driven to move on to where cues suggest weaker social organization and neighborhood involvement and the perception and reality of crime will be lessened.

Altering situational factors such as lighting can also help reduce crime and the fear of crime. Adequate lighting will increase visibility which in turn will reduce opportunities for crime and increase the probability of an offender being caught. By increasing the risk of detection criminals may be dissuaded from participating in illicit behaviours. Furthermore, since fear of crime is greatest after nightfall, the provision of lighting will serve to reduce crime as well as darkness.

The final measure suggested by respondent’s centered on spaces being a destination for leisure and entertainment. If a space can offer a variety of things to do and see it will undoubtedly attract residents of all ages, increasing pedestrian activity, street life and evening usage. Again, the more often a place is frequented and the more pedestrian traffic that it sees, the more likely it is to be perceived as an environment where surveillance of criminal activity is not likely and subsequently less appealing to criminal elements. The simple presence of others in a place therefore discourages criminal activity and this sentiment allows the community to presume both the absence of criminals and a reduction in crime in their neighbourhood.

For these reasons, if our cities and towns were built around great, safe places based on the above measures, the impact on crime and the perception of crime could prove substantial. If the conditions that symbolize physical and social disorder were eliminated through modifications as mentioned above these efforts could be effective in contributing to a reduction of fear, less negative perceptions of crime and a decrease in actual criminal activity in a given place within the community. Cynthia Nikitin would argue that building “place” capital also results in the development of cultural, ecological, financial, human, built, social, and health capital. It is these resources that prove invaluable to the health and well-being of society and identify our region as the place to live, work and grow.

For more information please contact:Juanita Metzger, Community Engagement Coordinator

Waterloo Region Crime Prevention CouncilTel: 519 - 883 - 2306

jmetzger@regionofwaterloo.ca

The Space Lab was generously supportedby the contributions of

Accessible formats of this report are available upon request