Stewards: Honouring Community Partnership Through Design with Krista Nightengale & Matthew Clarke
Any effort towards reimagining and transforming shared public spaces must meaningfully understand the value of community-based knowledge. When opportunities for civic collaboration and innovation are strengthened, communities become architects of their own environment, driving new ways of thinking about safety in public space. In this week’s Stewards piece we connect with Krista Nightengale from the Better Block Foundation, and Matthew Clarke from the Design Trust for Public Space, to learn more about how their non-profit organizations are approaching community partnership to design safer public spaces.
About Krista Nightengale
Krista Nightengale (she/her) began her career in journalism where she stumbled into the world of urban design. She discovered The Better Block Foundation, an international urban design non-profit based in Dallas, Texas, that educates, equips, and empowers communities and their leaders to reshape and reactivate built environments to promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods. At Managing Director at Better Block, Krista works alongside communities to demonstrate how wonderful walkable and bikeable districts can be created through the use of digital fabrication and great design.
Krista’s Thoughts on Safety and Public Space
Krista emphasized the importance of actively listening in order to continuously learn from and build with communities. Krista also shared that The Better Block Foundation approaches and encourages partners and communities to build from a place of love, not fear.
“When anyone builds from a place of fear, the primary goal is to keep people out or to discourage certain uses. But when we build for love, we invite people in, we encourage use, and we create joy. Throughout our entire process, we’re keeping the comments from the community in the back of our heads and at the front of our design.”
- Krista Nightengale
The Better Block Foundation also demonstrates how tactical urbanism and community programming can advance ideas around safety in public space. In 2019, the organization facilitated the complete redesign of a parking lot in North Dallas’ Vickery Meadows neighbourhood. After consulting with the neighbouring stakeholders, this project worked towards reimagining the parking lot as space for the whole community.
Krista shared that although the impact of COVID-19 has halted many of the plans to program the space in 2020, it remains an active site. The project has also provided a key learning opportunity, not only for the organization, but for local elected officials and the broader community.
About Matthew Clarke
Matthew Clarke (he/him) is the Executive Director of the New York based non-profit Design Trust for Public Space, where he advocates for the power of public space to build vibrant, equitable communities. As an architect, planner, and writer, he has advanced complex architectural and urban design projects; developed public-space policies; and developed national partnerships and initiatives. Prior to leading the Design Trust, Matthew was the National Director of Creative Placemaking at The Trust for Public Land and has held positions with the City of New York and SHoP Architects.
Matthew’s Thoughts on Safety and Public Space
For Matthew, public spaces have the capacity to become resilient environments when supported by meaningful community networks and partnerships. He highlights that beyond the absence of crime and violence, strong community cohesion, social capital, and civic engagement are essential pillars necessary to build safer spaces. Matthew also shares that this is rooted in an understanding that the idea of safety and health are inextricably linked to one another.
“I argue that we should conflate the ideas of safety and health. We deserve to live in cities that promote and encourage wellbeing; and we know that wellbeing can be actively increased by improving our education, building more public spaces, investing in transportation access, and increasing access to culture. Cities should be great engines of dignity.”
- Matthew Clarke
In addition to this, advancing strategies that reinforce and reflect a commitment to engaging diverse stakeholders is imperative. The unique project model applied by The Design Trust for Public Space demonstrates this approach, and Matthew also emphasizes the relevance of this approach.
“Public safety exists at the intersection of many interests. The best efforts at promoting public safety don’t involve mitigation, they involve upstream prevention through collaboration. In this vein, we are all responsible for public safety.”
– Matthew Clarke
Follow the Better Block on Twitter at @TheBetterBlock and on Instagram at @betterblock.
Follow the Design Trust for Public Space on Twitter and Instagram at @designtrustnyc.
