San Francisco’s Privately Owned Public Spaces

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For an interesting discussion on privately owned public spaces in San Francisco, check out the article by John King, the San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic, entitled “Privately Owned Public Space: Guidance Needed.”

In the article, King discusses how simple remedies to San Francisco’s current building plan would “increase awareness of good spaces and focus resources more effectively.” Currently, the provision of privately owned public spaces is governed by the city’s 1985 downtown plan, which requires 1 square foot of public space per 50 square feet of office space or hotels. However, due to the nature of the downtown area, many of the privately owned public spaces recently built have been located within or on top of buildings. As a result, many do not know that these spaces exist.

Unlike New York City, where the planning code requires large and visible signs of a specific height and size that state “OPEN TO PUBLIC,” the San Francisco 1985 plan simply declares that when public spaces are located within or on top of buildings, “their availability should be marked visibly at street level.” These vague guidelines allow for small signs to be placed at locations where passersby will likely miss them.

King states that, as a new wave of downtown development begins to gain momentum in San Francisco, planners and decision makers need to make a worthy program better, and the first challenge will be simply to make sure that people know that these public spaces exist.

Please read the full article for more information on some of San Francisco’s privately owned public spaces and what else should be done to improve the city’s 1985 downtown plan.