(PCC) Program on Chinese Cities – Thoughts on Overseas Travels Series
Authors: Sai Ma,
Visiting Scholar, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. masai555@gmail.com
[Author’s Note] The 2024 Better Cities Film Festival was held at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, North Carolina, USA. The festival featured four documentary films: The Engine Inside, Housing & Architecture, Southern Urbanism & Main Street Revitalization, and Zoning and Land Use. The latter three films each comprised 6 to 9 short films. These films showcased successful experiences and case studies in urban renewal across cities in the southern United States, covering aspects such as urban transportation, housing and architecture, economic revitalization, zoning, and land use. They explored multi-dimensional discussions on how to develop cleaner, smarter, more livable, and more sustainable future cities—advocating for innovative thinking, redesigning streets to be more human-centered, utilizing green and clean energy, preserving historical and cultural heritage in urban renewal, and fostering public spaces with a community-centered and “people-first” approach. The author will present a four-part series covering the films showcased at the festival, with this article focusing on the third film, Southern Urbanism & Main Street Revitalization.
Southern Urbanism & Main Street Revitalization
Southern Urbanism & Main Street Revitalization consists of seven short films, providing in-depth discussions on the opportunities and challenges faced by cities in the American South during urbanization and how they are addressing these issues. Southern cities typically have lower population densities and later development starts, yet they possess unique historical and cultural characteristics, as well as distinctive architecture. Southern urbanism emphasizes preserving and utilizing these features in urban planning, design, and development to enhance community cohesion and promote sustainable city growth.
Rural Studio: A Story of Solutions
Director: Jeff Durkin
Type: Short Documentary
Country: USA
Year: 2016
Duration: 3 minutes 42 seconds
Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture established an off-campus Rural Studio. This short film documents how this studio collaborated with the New Burn community in Alabama through diversified partnerships and targeted design and construction projects to address issues such as the long distance to a fire station and the lack of a public library. Their primary solutions included designing and constructing a new fire station and a micro-library [1] (Figure 1). These designs improved the community’s public resources and living conditions, fostering overall community development and benefiting local rural residents.
From an educational perspective, this type of practice-based learning encourages students to engage with housing and systemic research while focusing on sustainability and healthy living, ultimately promoting community prosperity. It represents a novel architectural education approach that integrates community-centered design and construction with practical application.
The Edge of Memphis
Director: Gina Margillo
Type: Short Documentary
Country: USA
Year: 2014
Duration: 3 minutes 47 seconds
This short film tells the story of the revitalization and renewal of the Edge District in downtown Memphis [2]. This area was historically an intersection of industry and culture and was once known as “Automobile Row,” gathering numerous car dealerships. It also gained fame for its rich history, industrial heritage, and cultural events, with historic buildings from the 1920s–1940s still standing.
Many former industrial warehouses and vacant buildings have attracted investments from local manufacturers, breathing new life into the area. Artists from various disciplines—musicians, instrumentalists, makers, as well as pottery, painting, graffiti, and craft artists—have gathered here. Alongside the many restaurants, bars, and breweries, the area and its main street have been revitalized. This transformation has made the Edge District no longer just the “edge” of Memphis but a vibrant destination integrating art, leisure, and entertainment (Figures 2–3).
“Time is critical; the Edge District is building a thriving community,” says Bertram Williams of The Dizzy Bird bar. “Here, people have the opportunity to find a place to bring their ideas to life.”
The Edge District’s revitalization is part of the MEMFix urban renewal initiative. MEMFix is an innovative tactical urbanism approach aimed at improving communities through urban renewal, neighborhood revitalization, and encouraging people to re-engage with and appreciate urban spaces. It often employs “lighter, quicker, cheaper” interventions to drive changes in urban patterns and spaces, enhancing city quality and promoting urban growth.
This method was first applied by BLDG Memphis in 2010 under the name Livable Memphis. The initiative includes activities, art performances, temporary architecture, gardens, and other short-term transformations, all aimed at stimulating community participation and improving urban environments to create positive impacts. Community members leverage these events to draw attention to neglected spaces, address local issues, and showcase desired changes in public or private spaces. These initiatives provide innovative solutions for cities, improving public spaces and enhancing urban appeal and vitality [3].
“MEMFix solutions target urban areas that are dense and in transition—places that have built up energy for change but need external activation,” says Ellen Roberds from the nonprofit Livable Memphis. “This means redesigning vacant spaces, opening shops, designing pedestrian-friendly streets, and organizing single-day events and festivals to bring people back onto the streets to see what change is possible.”
“We need a beautiful, livable, safe, enjoyable, and fun place to live. The Edge is a place that truly integrates these concepts and achieves these goals.”
Awesome Tampa Bay: The Urban Conga
Director: Michael Flanagan
Type: Short Film
Country: USA
Year: 2014
Duration: 3 minutes
This short film, produced by St. Petersburg-based photographer and television producer Michael Flanagan, tells the story of Urban Conga, a nonprofit organization founded by Ryan Swanson in 2014. The film specifically highlights the Ping Pong in the Park project [4].
At the time, Swanson was hosting a small event in downtown Tampa—projecting a beach volleyball game onto a 12-foot (approx. 3.66m) wall and inviting people to play. As more people joined in, barriers between strangers started to break down, leading to social interactions and new connections. Following this success, Swanson left his previous job to fully dedicate himself to this cause, founding Urban Conga.
Urban Conga is an interdisciplinary design studio focused on urban design and public spaces. The organization aims to promote community engagement by creating creative, open-ended games that foster social interaction and urban experiences (Figure 4).
In 2014, Urban Conga’s Ping Pong in the Park project received a micro-grant from Awesome Tampa Bay. Awesome Tampa Bay is a local chapter of the Awesome Foundation, which seeks to discover and support remarkable initiatives in the Tampa Bay area. Every two months, it awards $1,000 grants to individuals or organizations that have done something inspiring [5].
This film reflects the core principles of New Urbanism—enhancing community life through placemaking, eliminating social barriers, and striving to build a harmonious, vibrant, and sustainable urban environment.
Broad Ave: The Building of Business
Director: Edward Valibus
Type: Short Film
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Duration: 4 minutes 34 seconds
Broad Ave: The Building of Business is another short film by director Edward Valibus following The Edge of Memphis [6]. While The Edge of Memphis focuses on the urban renewal initiative MEMFix, Broad Ave: The Building of Business highlights another Memphis urban renewal project—MEMShop. This project aims to bring new businesses into vacant storefronts and underutilized properties to stimulate economic recovery, community development, and revitalization. Additionally, MEMShop provides ongoing support to these businesses, including training in business development, marketing, social media, and management. Through this initiative, a series of vacant stores have been reactivated, new businesses have received opportunities and support, and the main street has flourished, driving economic growth and increasing community recognition and vibrancy (Figure 5).
Broad Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, is a historic street that originally served as the main thoroughfare of the railroad town Binghampton. By 2010, Broad Avenue was facing economic decline, prompting local merchants and residents to take action themselves. Inspired by the Better Block project, they partnered with the nonprofit organization BLDG Memphis to create a community revitalization initiative called A New Face for Old Broad.
With a small investment, the project introduced protected bike lanes, pedestrian crosswalks, temporary shops, food stalls, and events for visitors of all ages, showcasing Broad Avenue’s potential as an arts district. Since then, the avenue has attracted over $20 million in investments.
“I wanted to come to Broad Avenue not just because of its location but because of its energy. I just wanted to be part of it, to immerse myself in this community, and contribute in any way I could.”
— Tom Clifton, T Clifton Art Gallery
“Now, we have beautiful public artworks on our street, an incredibly active business community, and abundant art events. And all of this happened within just a few years.”
— Pat Brown, T Clifton Art Gallery
In less than a decade, Broad Avenue transformed from a street full of vacant storefronts into one of Memphis’ most vibrant and attractive arts districts. Today, it is home to boutiques, artist studios, galleries, restaurants, bars, retail stores, and small businesses, thriving as a lively commercial hub. The revitalization of Broad Avenue exemplifies the ingenuity of Memphis residents, who, in collaboration with local government, successfully renewed and reinvigorated their community (Figure 6).
Parking
Director: Kronberg Wall
Type: Short Film
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Duration: 3 minutes 06 seconds
The short film Parking explores parking issues in Atlanta’s urbanization process and examines its impact on community and urban planning [7]. As urban population density increases, competition for space becomes more intense. Parking consumes a vast amount of land, placing a heavy burden on U.S. land resources and increasing the distance between people and their destinations. The U.S. has a population of 330 million but an estimated 2 billion parking spaces, meaning there are six parking spaces per person [8], representing a severe waste of resources (Figure 7).
According to the film, the average cost of building a single parking space is approximately $16,167, which indirectly raises the cost of urban living. Every establishment—including homes and shopping malls—factors in parking costs, forcing everyone to pay higher prices, even those who do not own cars or cannot afford one.
How can parking costs be reduced and parking problems improved? Sally Flocks, President and CEO of the Atlanta-based nonprofit PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety), states:
“The cities that have successfully reduced congestion all limit the number of parking spaces. Instead of mandating a minimum number of parking spots, they set a maximum limit.”
Eric Kronberg of Kronberg Wall Architects highlights the value of curbside parking, advocating for its maximized use. Because of its high turnover rate, curbside parking can provide three to five times the value of off-street parking.
Brad Davis from Alta Planning + Design explains:
“It’s a geometry issue. If you can create more spaces for buildings, parks, and public areas and make them connected rather than spread out, people can gather and interact, creating truly vibrant places. The key to making pedestrian-friendly, bike-friendly, and transit-oriented communities is reducing reliance on driving.”
To address parking challenges, many cities are exploring ways to reshape public spaces. Atlanta’s regional transportation planners are actively engaged in this work, aiming to create a livable environment that encourages residents to choose alternative modes of transportation. Thus, compact, walkable, and bike-friendly designs are becoming essential in reshaping parks and public spaces, promoting social interactions, and reducing car dependency to protect the natural environment.
Sprawlanta
Director: John Paget
Type: Short Film
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Duration: 9 minutes 16 seconds
Sprawlanta is the first video in the American Makeover series on New Urbanism. It presents an effective case study of how Atlanta is addressing urban sprawl—Glenwood Park, a community-based development influenced by New Urbanism principles [9] (Figure 8). The development of Glenwood Park offers a new perspective on tackling Atlanta’s sprawl problem, reigniting confidence in creating walkable and community-friendly neighborhoods.
Atlanta has experienced severe urban sprawl. According to the film, Atlanta’s land area was 8.15 km² in 1850, expanded to 337 km² by 1950, and has now reached 21,724 km². The film mentions that in the late 1990s, Chris Weinberger described Atlanta as possibly the fastest-growing human settlement in Earth’s history. Urban sprawl, as an unsustainable development model [10], has led to two major consequences:
- Suburbanization and the Hollowing Out of the City Core
As housing costs pushed residents outward, only 10% of Atlanta’s population now lives in the city center, while 90% reside in suburban or exurban areas with lower housing costs. This has resulted in a weakened urban core. - Increased Car Dependence and Environmental Consequences
Urban sprawl has led to a surge in car travel. Commuters in Atlanta drive an average of 106 km per day, resulting in excessive commuting times, severe air pollution, increased traffic accidents, and threats to public safety.
Located 3 km east of downtown Atlanta and covering approximately 11 hectares, Glenwood Park is a redevelopment project that transformed a former concrete recycling industrial site into a mixed-use residential and commercial community. In 2000, Novare Group acquired the land and began pre-development work. In 2003, Green Street Properties started construction, and the project was completed in 2010.
Designed with a community-oriented approach, Glenwood Park features supermarkets, restaurants, cafés, retail stores, and entertainment facilities—all within walking distance (Figure 9). By encouraging walking and cycling, the development reduces car dependency, decreases traffic accidents, promotes public health, and improves air quality.
One of Glenwood Park’s unique design features is its garage placement. Traditionally, garages are located at the front of homes, but at Glenwood Park, garages and waste collection areas are placed at the back. This design allows more space at the front for neighborhood interactions, fostering social connections and enhancing the sense of community.
The Place Man
Director: Guillermo Bernal
Type: Documentary
Country: USA
Year: 2024
Duration: 19 minutes
The Place Man is a biographical documentary that explores the origins, development, and future trends of the placemaking movement by telling the story of Fred Kent, the founder and iconic figure of the global placemaking movement. Throughout his life, Kent was dedicated to creating public spaces for people [11] (Figure 10).
The documentary first takes us into Kent’s life and work. In his youth, Kent worked at Citibank on Wall Street in New York. Beginning in the 1960s, New York faced a series of major urban crises, including a sharp rise in crime, rampant drug trade, and environmental deterioration. To address these challenges, Kent founded a street academy for high school dropouts, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and focusing on environmental transformation. In 1970, he organized New York City’s first Earth Day event, which saw massive participation. As the golden age of public space research arrived, scholars such as Jane Jacobs and pioneer William Whyte took to the streets for observational studies. In 1975, Kent co-founded the Project for Public Spaces with Steve Davies and Kathy Madden. This initiative focused on studying human behavior in public spaces and providing recommendations to create more attractive and dynamic places. Initially planned as a three-year project, the three of them ended up working on it for fifty years (Figure 11).
Kent’s philosophy is simple: public spaces should be designed for people—open, inclusive, and full of vitality. By employing “lighter, quicker, cheaper” interventions, they reshaped streets and public spaces in increasingly dense cities, making them more inviting and fostering social interactions. In Kent’s words:
“We always swim against the current; we must intervene. That’s why placemaking is such a powerful tool. People have their own ideas about things, and they should be able to see them in their own way. That’s why we don’t focus on outcomes, we don’t impose results, we don’t predetermine solutions—they define them themselves.”
Kent proposed the Power of 10 theory, suggesting that a public space should feature ten attractions, each offering ten different activities to encourage people to engage and reconnect with one another. Every city or region should strive to have ten key communities or destinations, each containing ten places or attractions, with each “place” offering ten activities—an approach that layers elements together to create synergistic effects (Figure 12).
The documentary then showcases several of Kent’s successful public space transformations, including Bryant Park in New York City and Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit. These projects demonstrate the tangible impact of the Power of 10 theory in real-world applications (Figures 13–14).
Placemaking embodies the principles of New Urbanism, advocating for pedestrian-friendly, human-centered urban planning that prioritizes traditional neighborhood connections. Kent famously stated:
“If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get more cars and traffic; if you plan cities for people and places, you get more people and places.”
This quote remains widely cited today (Figure 15).
“In the most successful public squares, communities themselves create, define, manage, and continuously improve these spaces… Streets are places… The success of a street is ultimately determined by the perceptions and feelings of the people using it, their emotional connection to it, and the social life they generate there daily.” [12] Kent’s son, Ethan Kent, wrote this in his article “Streets as Places for People to Gather—The Next Evolution of the Transportation Revolution.”
“Great streets and transformative change require broad participation and support. If we define issues and solutions solely around transportation or a single technical discipline, we limit and weaken the power of change. To truly enhance our streets and communities, we must embrace the powerful idea that ‘streets are places.’” [12] Following in his father’s footsteps, Ethan Kent continues to advocate for shifting perspectives, improving street design, and driving major transformations in transportation systems.
Fred Kent once stated in his article “Creating the Streets and Sidewalks We Love—Shifting Our Focus from Cars to People”:
“Streets and sidewalks are the arteries of community life. Many of our most important social interactions take place here. Only when these spaces offer us safety, comfort, and enjoyable experiences can we truly walk, shop, and gather within them. To achieve this, we must make a fundamental shift—when defining a great street, we need to shift our focus from vehicle throughput to social life. Streets and sidewalks are designed for people; it’s time to reclaim them for community life.” [13]
Kent’s famous remark captures the essence of placemaking:
“If architecture is frozen music, planning is composition, and placemaking is street improvisation.”
This perfectly illustrates the concept: placemaking is about communities actively shaping their own future. It is not about professionals dictating outcomes but rather about experts stepping back to serve as resources while local people, through spontaneous interactions, define the ultimate result. Cities, as a result, will be reborn.
The reason this documentary is so compelling is Kent himself. He is not portrayed as a grand figure but rather as a humble and empathetic individual who firmly believed that placemaking could strengthen communities. Throughout the film, we witness Kent’s passion for transforming public spaces and his unwavering belief in placemaking. His philosophy is crucial in helping us address the immense challenges we face today.
Reference Videos and Literature
[1] Rural Studio: A Story of Solutions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKqCE1V8u-U.[2] The Edge of Memphis. https://vimeo.com/110230171.
[3] About MEMFix. https://memfix.org/about-memfix/.
[4] Awesome Tampa Bay: The Urban Conga. https://vimeo.com/102895336.
[5] DIANE EGNER. Awesome Tampa Bay: Ping Pong in the Park[OL]. (2014-08-19)[2023-04-26]. https://www.83degreesmedia.com/features/awesome081914.aspx.
[6] Broad Ave: The Building of Business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWnOCQDNYOQ.
[7] Parking. https://vimeo.com/172443452.
[8] 陈恺昀. 平均一位美国人就拥有6个停车位，许多城市废止“最低停车位要求”[OL]. (2023)[2024-04-26]. https://dq.yam.com/post/15521.
[9] Sprawlanta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf3F7qHT0B4.
[10] 张衔春, 胡国华. 美国新城市主义运动：发展、批判与反思[J]. 国际城市规划, 2013(3): 40-48.
[11] The Place Man. https://www.placemakingx.org/the-place-man.
[12] KENT E. Streets as places to come together: the next evolution for the transportation revolution[R/OL]. (2022) [2024-04-26]. https://www.sociallifeproject.org/streets_as_places_transportation_revolution/.
[13] KENT F , MADDEN K , DAVIES S, et al. Creating the streets and sidewalks we love – shifting our focus from cars to people[R/OL]. [2024-04-26]. https://www.sociallifeproject.org/its-the-sidewalks-stupid/.