Since our founding in 1995, the Design Trust for Public Space has solicited project proposals from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and individuals through an open Request for Proposals (RFP).
After three years since our last RFP—"The Energetic City"—and four projects later, we have now unveiled "Public for All: Rethinking Shared Space in NYC," an open call for project ideas to ensure New York City’s public realm remains truly public. The Design Trust seeks innovative ideas for creating more accessible, resourceful public spaces and sustainable models for their operation and maintenance to strengthen the voice of communities and enliven neighborhoods.
In today’s political climate, we must affirm and ensure that New York City’s public realm provides places of refuge and play, congregation and demonstration, and dialogue and exchange. Keeping these spaces thoroughly public poses challenges and opportunities at every turn—be that site selection, funding, design, governance, or operations. The Design Trust for Public Space—the nonprofit that jumpstarted the High Line, pioneered a model Community Design School in Queens, helped bring about New York’s first custom-built Taxi of Tomorrow, and developed the sustainability guidelines that paved the way for PlaNYC—is dedicated to catalyzing public space to better serve people, and create a vibrant and sustainable city.
