In October 2019, Bloomberg Associates and Street Plans released the Asphalt Art Guide. The Guide is a free resource for cities looking to transform their streets and public spaces with art. It features over two dozen case studies highlighting successful plaza and roadway art activations around the world, and a how-to section for cities interested in undertaking their own projects.

The guide draws on the experience of these successful projects and addresses topics like community involvement, liability concerns, design development, materials, and project implementation. The best practices offered in this guide provide the necessary insight and advice that will enable project teams to ultimately improve street safety, revitalize public spaces, and bring communities together through asphalt art.

Collaborators: The Street Plans Collaborative, The Bloomberg Foundation

Government agencies and advocacy organizations have produced many useful documents exploring case studies or providing guidance about how an iterative approach can be applied to planning and design projects.

Tactical Urbanism researchers and practitioners guidance about design, materials, and process for both citizen and city-led projects. In response to this need, we released a new open-source resource in 2016: the Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design. Undertaken with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design aims to share the best of what the community has learned about materials and design through real-world testing. 

The Alliance for Biking and Walking,  The Fund for the Environment and Urban Life, The Street Plans Collaborative completed a two year research project entitled The Open Streets Project.

Open streets initiatives temporarily close streets to automobiles, allowing residents to walk, bike, skate, dance and utilize the roadways in countless creative and active ways. From Los Angeles to Ottawa, and Missoula to Miami, open streets have become a way for cities to build community, promote active transportation and reconnect neighborhoods divided by traffic.

The Open Streets Guide features best practices from 67 initiatives across the continent, and serves as a tool for cities looking to start or grow an open streets initiative.

Collaborators: The Street Plans Collaborative, The Alliance for Biking and Walking, The Fund for the Environment and Urban Life