PLACEBREAKING VS. PLACEMAKING: WHO REALLY DESIGNS OUR CITIES?
Daniel Solomon, AICP
September 17, 2025
What’s PLACEBREAKING?
PLACEBREAKING Policies
How do we UN-BREAK things?
What’s PLACEBREAKING?
What’s PLACEMAKING?
Project for PUBLIC SPACES
placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm to maximize shared value
What’s Transportation PLACEMAKING?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER ON ACCESS & LINKAGES:
› Can people easily walk to the place?
› Do sidewalks lead to and from the adjacent areas?
› Does the space function for people with special needs?
› Do the roads and paths through the space take people where they actually want to go?
› Can people use a variety of transportation options – bus, train, car, bicycle, etc. - to reach the place?
› Are transit stops conveniently located next to destinations such as libraries, post offices, park entrances, etc.?
What’s Transportation PLACEMAKING?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER ON ACCESS & LINKAGES:
› Can people easily walk to the place?
› Do sidewalks lead to and from the adjacent areas?
› Does the space function for people with special needs?
› Do the roads and paths through the space take people where they actually want to go?
› Can people use a variety of transportation options – bus, train, car, bicycle, etc. - to reach the place?
› Are transit stops conveniently located next to destinations such as libraries, post offices, park entrances, etc.?
TRANSPORTATION PLACEMAKING
› Balance between needs and human scale
› Minimize conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles
› Slow vehicular speeds
› Accessibility / Walkability
› Intuitive pathways for people
› Multi-modal connectivity
› Designing for people instead of cars
What’s Transportation PLACEMAKING?
What is the OPPOSITE?
TRANSPORTATION PLACEMAKING
› Balance between needs and human scale
› Minimize conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles
› Slow vehicular speeds
› Accessibility / Walkability
› Intuitive pathways for people
› Multi-modal connectivity
› Designing for people instead of cars
TRANSPORTATION PLACEBREAKING
› No balance between needs and human scale
› Create conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles
› Fast vehicular speeds
› Inaccessibility / Non-walkability
› Intuitive pathways for cars
› Car-centric connectivity
› Designing for cars
Urban highway construction in the late 1950s - early 1970s What’s the most famous
› "Missing" crosswalk
› High-speed design
› Built-in conflicts
› Cars directed to front door
› Humans not given a path
PLACEBREAKING Policies
How Did We End Up Here?
Standardization of analysis led to oversimplification & the rise of car-centric policies.
Most transportation work has no stated goals and objectives, and car-centric ones fill the vacuum.
“The joke is designed to poke fun at theorists for making unrealistic assumptions in order to simplify a problem to make it easier to solve (or solvable at all).”
https://www.sphericalcowblog.com/spherical-cows
“Assume the cow is a sphere”
“Assume everyone drives” (transportation version)
Oversimplification + Safety Factors
The cables of the Brooklyn Bridge were designed with a safety factor of six
Oversized infrastructure
Car-centric connectivity
Fast vehicular speeds
Inaccessibility/Non-walkability
Intuitive pathways for cars
Development Review Process
Transportation Planners & Engineers Assist on Design (minimize impacts & right-size infrastructure)
Project is Designed (including site access/parking & other transportation details)
PROACTIVE
Parking Minimums and Other Car-Centric Standards
Traffic Study is performed
REACTIVE
External Roadway Improvements Recommended
Development Review Process
Transportation Planners & Engineers Assist on Design (minimize impacts & right-size infrastructure)
PROACTIVE
Project is Designed (including site access/parking & other transportation details)
Transportation Study is Performed
External Multi-modal & Operational Improvements Recommended
Parking Minimums and Other Car-Centric Standards
Transportation Alternatives Evaluation
Transportation Goals & Objectives Developed
Overall Project Goals & Objectives Developed (when transportation is just one project element)
Alternatives Developed
Transportation Study (with metrics/evaluation criteria directly related to the goals & objectives)
Traffic Study
Alternative Selected
In the absence of clearly stated goals/objectives, these studies tend to be car-centric.
How do we UN-BREAK things?
The Movement to Fix Things
NACTO Montgomery County, MD
City of Alexandria, VA FDOT
Miami-Dade County, FL
City of Baltimore, MD
https://nacto.org/publication/urban-streetdesign-guide/
Not ALL Streets Should Be Complete
Regional Vehicular Traffic
Local Vehicular Traffic
On-Street Parking
Uber / Lyft Zones
Transit-Only Lanes And
Stops
Street Trees
Protected Bike Lanes
Not ALL Streets Should Be Complete
NETWORKS Should be Complete
Regional Vehicular Traffic
Local Vehicular Traffic
On-Street Parking
Uber / Lyft Zones
Transit-Only
Lanes And Stops
Street Trees
Protected Bike Lanes
Max. crosswalk: 42’
What We Should Do Instead (Goals & Nuance)
TRANSPORTATION PLACEBREAKING
› Every street must be complete
› Standards over function
› Cars first and inaccessible
› No goals, defaults fill the vacuum
› Little to no context
TRANSPORTATION PLACEMAKING
› Networks, not every street
› Function over standards
› Humans first and accessible
› Set goals up front
› Context sensitive
Transportation Placemaking Requires Transportation Architects
https://commonedge.org/architects-design-just-2-of-all-houses-why/
Transportation Engineers Usually DO NOT Design:
› Lane Widths
› Curb Radii
› Sidewalk Widths
› Curb-ramps/ADAAccess
› Parking Garage Supplies
› Site Access Locations
› Loading Docks
Development Review Process
Project is Designed (including site access/parking & other transportation details)
In the vast majority of jurisdictions, this is all that is required.
Parking Minimums and Other Car-Centric Standards
Traffic Study is performed
External Roadway Improvements Recommended
Transportation Alternatives Evaluation
Transportation Goals & Objectives Developed
Overall Project Goals & Objectives Developed
(when transportation is just one project element)
Alternatives Developed
Transportation Study (with metrics/evaluation criteria directly related to the goals & objectives)
Traffic Study
Most guiding documents do not allow for this type of nuance
Alternative Selected
CASE STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
Transportation
PLACEBREAKING vs.
PLACEMAKING
Transportation strategy + goals at the highest level → human-scale outcomes
OLD SW WATERFRONT
PLACEBREAKING
THE WHARF
PLACEMAKING
CASE STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
OLD SW WATERFRONT
PLACEBREAKING
• Every person gets a parking space
• Lots of dead space
PLACEMAKING
• Nowhere near everyone gets a parking space
• Allows for density needed to build underground parking next to water
THE WHARF
CASE STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
OLD SW WATERFRONT
PLACEBREAKING
• Local access provided by Water Street, running parallel to Maine Ave
• Kept all local traffic off Maine Ave, protecting it from potential congestion
PLACEMAKING
• Local access provided by series of shared streets
• Much less space dedicated to internal streets
• Trades some ‘messiness’ on Maine Avenue for human scale
THE WHARF
CASE
STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
Variations in Paving Help Define Space
Accommodation of All Modes
CASE STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
Service Vehicles on The Wharf Itself Transition to “Car-Light” Pedestrian Space
CASE STUDY: A Tale of Two Waterfronts
OLD SW WATERFRONT
PLACEBREAKING
• Waterfront felt disconnected from City
• So much concrete and asphalt between places
• Mobility barriers
Approx. 290’ between buildings
THE WHARF
PLACEMAKING
• Shorter distance between buildings along Maine Ave
• Removal of right turn lanes on walks to/from The Wharf
• New traffic signal and associated crosswalks at Fish Market
Approx. 130’ between buildings
PLACEBREAKING VS. PLACEMAKING: WHO REALLY DESIGNS OUR CITIES?
Daniel Solomon, AICP
September 17, 2025