The 2010 recipient of the award was Campus Martius Park in Detroit.
Images courtesy Bob Gregory
Dear Hazel,
We are writing to tell you about the Amanda Burden Urban Open Space Award that is being given by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in partnership with New York City Planning Commissioner, Amanda Burden. The award is a $10,000 cash prize for an outstanding public destination in the United States that has enriched and revitalized its surrounding community.
The prize is intended to celebrate and promote vibrant, well-used urban open spaces. The 2010 recipient of the award was Campus Martius Park in Detroit, a 2.5-acre thriving green space created from a desolate downtown parcel. Known as “Detroit’s Official Gathering Place,” Campus Martius Park is a vibrant central square that has become the heart of the city’s downtown redevelopment initiative.
Because of our familiarity with urban spaces throughout the country, Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS) was asked to encourage people who we know care about public spaces to apply for this award. In addition to the cash prize, the winning project will receive a commemorative statuette and be recognized in an awards ceremony held in conjunction with ULIs Spring Council Forum, as well as showcased in ULIs publications and conferences.
To enter, the space must be outdoors, at least 10,000 square feet in size and have been open to the public for at least one year and not more than ten years. The special qualities that the award seeks to recognize are:
•Be located in an urbanized area in North America
•Cover at least 10,000 square feet
•Have been open to the public at least one year and no more than 10 years
•Be outdoors and inviting to the public, regardless of ownership
•Be a central, dynamic civic place, providing abundant and varied seating, sun and shade, trees and plantings with attractions and features that offer many different ways for visitors to enjoy the space
•Be used intensively on a daily basis, and act as a magnet for a broad spectrum of users
•Be a lively, central gathering space, serving as a public destination throughout the year
•Have catalyzed private investment and urban regeneration in the surrounding community
•Represent a sound investment of public funds, if public funds are involved
•Be worthy of emulation
We are thrilled that this prize has recognized the above criteria as qualities of public spaces that should be rewarded. It presents a special chance for teams of designers, local governments and community groups to showcase their work and contribute to raising the profile of great public open spaces across the country.
You can learn more about the prize and download the application here.
The application deadline is February 18, 2011.
Sincerely,
Fred Kent, President
Project for Public Spaces, Inc.