"Reimagining the Civic Commons" - 9 Ways to Build Better Cities Through Public Places

The Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative is interested in the role that Anacostia Park and other open spaces in Ward 7 and Ward 8 of the District can play in improving our communities. We believe that the Anacostia River and its waterfront parks, as well as our other neighborhood parks, can provide immense benefits to residents if improved in the right way.

Parks can improve public health, bring communities closer together and improve economic outcomes for residents. The improvement of parks can also be tied to neighborhood plans for equitable development, which means ensuring that low-income residents who have lived in the area for a long time won’t be displaced as parks (and the rest of the neighborhood) are improved.

We aren’t the only people thinking like this. Four big foundations recently put $40 million into a project called Reimagining the Civic Commons that leverages “the power of the civic commons to produce increased and more equitably shared prosperity” in four U.S. cities. After working in several cities since 2016, this project has published some lessons-learned that apply very much to us here in the District.

The 11th Street Bridge Park is a member of APACC and was featured in an article by Reimagining the Civic Commons. Scott Kratz, the Bridge Park’s director, is quoted:

“Park designers should consistently ask themselves ‘who is this park for?’ At the 11th Street Bridge Park we’re focused on the surrounding neighborhoods. Long term residents who have been through the challenging times should have the opportunity to enjoy these new civic amenities. It’s critical to set clear deliverables for your equity investments to ensure local residents can stay and thrive in place. What gets measured, gets done!”

— Scott Kratz, director, 11th Street Bridge Park

Rendering by OMA+OLIN.

The article 9 Ways to Build Better Cities Through Public Places and its sequel, Part 2, list many strategies that maximize the value of public parks to local residents.

These strategies can inform the steps that APACC members can take to work with residents, District agencies and partner organizations to improve our neighborhoods.

1. Principle #1 Design, operate and manage civic assets as a portfolio focused on outcomes

2. Principle #2 Recognize intrinsic value

3. Principle #3 Bring people of all backgrounds back into public life, reconnecting communities to civic assets where trust can be formed

4. Principle #4 Shift the behavior of citizens from consumers to producers in order to cultivate stewards and champions of the assets

5. Principle #5 Provide the best quality for all that can compete with alternatives in the private sector

6. Principle #6 Welcome everyone and create opportunities for shared experience among people of all incomes and backgrounds

7. Principle #7 Connect people to nature and invite visitorship via walking, biking or transit

8. Principle #8 Provide ecological benefits to the surrounding neighborhood

9. Principle #9 Attract additional investment in the surrounding neighborhood in a way that sustains public spaces and benefits existing communities