Making the Case

Good buildings can make a great difference to tenants and visitors, as well as to the community and city at large. The research reports, success stories, and FAQs files in this section can help you to explain how better buildings and public spaces can improve an area’s property values and revenues, enhance the community’s stability and image, and the overall public enjoyment of a place.

• What is a Great Civic Space?

  An article about the benefits of good civic spaces, with focus on how they create identity, improve the local economy, help the environment, and provide settings for cultural and social activities.
  Project for Public Spaces

• Ten Benefits of Creating Good Public Spaces

  Brief case studies of cities where well-designed public spaces have had demonstrable positive impacts.
  Project for Public Spaces

• Federal Spaces/Civic Places

  Detailed examinations of three cities where the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has partnered with local organizations to bring neglected public spaces back to life. See also an article from Governing magazine
  Urban Development/Good Neighbor Program, GSA.

• The Value of Great Buildings

  Data from 50 studies demonstrating the benefits of well-designed buildings and public spaces. The printable PDF document includes sections on civic spaces, cultural and healthcare facilities, housing, offices, schools, and crime prevention.
  Center for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE)

• Why Open Space Promotes Urban Development

  A Denver business leader explains why the creation of Commons Park, along the Central Platte Valley, was a cornerstone in developing new mixed-use downtown neighborhoods.
  Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

• How Public Spaces Can Boost Building Performance

  A tip sheet about how good public spaces make sense for building owners, managers and tenants; with focus on how they can attract tenants, increase customer satisfaction, contribute to the economic bottom line, improve security, and make maintenance and renovations more manageable.
  Project for Public Spaces

• Making Parks Work In Cleveland

  In Cleveland, good public spaces and parks are regarded as critical in helping the city attract highly mobile “New Economy” businesses and workers. This article reports on an effort to identify potential new open spaces downtown and build a constituency for investing in them.
  Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

• Real Estate Impacts of Urban Parks

  Brief case studies of how six recently built or rehabilitated downtown parks have impacted the value of surrounding properties, and a summary of previous research on the topic. Examples from New York City, Bellevue (Wash.), Atlanta, Boston and Shreveport (La.)
  Economic Research Associates

• Greenway Vision Saves River and Generates Investment

  An article chronicling how Denver civic and political leaders organized the reclamation of the South Platte River into a regional greenway system, spurring not only parkland and environmental benefits but also redevelopment of large tracts of industrial land downtown.
  Project for Public Spaces/Urban Parks Institute

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