29 Apr For the Love of Cities and a Celebration of the Power of People, Places, and Imagination
Cities
This year marks the organization’s 20th anniversary. It’s an incredible milestone and cause for celebration. It feels good to be here. We’re old enough to have learned some things, endured some ups and downs, and still young enough to feel like we’re just getting started.
Since its inception, 8 80 Cities has always been about “raising the conversation” and “shaking things up,” as our fearless founder Gil Penalosa would often say.
It’s not easy to create something that captures people’s imagination and inspires them to think differently. We are so grateful Gil had the original vision and ambition to do so. It has touched so many different people and in so many different places.
While our organization has influenced, pushed, and challenged traditional city-building narratives, we’ve also demonstrated what we mean when we talk about creating 8 80 cities for all.
Transforming Car-dominated Spaces into People Spaces.
Activating Parks, Plazas, Laneways, and Parking Lots into Vibrant Hubs of Public Life.
Building the Capacity of Leaders (from Mayors and Elected Officials to Grassroots Community Changemakers and Champions) to Take Action in their Communities.
Creating Open-source Tools and Resources
We’ve worked with great partners and collaborators to produce tools and resources that have continued to support our mission and share promising practices in public space transformation and activation, such as the Creating Parks and Public Spaces for all Ages Guide, Open Streets Toolkit, Winter Cities Toolkit, Winter Placemaking Guide, School Streets Guidebook, and Make a Place for People. Our yearbooks are a great archive of some of the projects that have helped shape the organization’s learning over the last two decades.
Check out our latest yearbook here.
We are grateful for all the incredible people, places, and stories that have shaped our journey so far. We have much more work to do!
What if everything we did in our cities was great for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old? 20 years later, we’re still wondering. We’re still pushing for better.
This is the first in a series of blog and social media posts to mark our 20th anniversary year. Stay tuned for more, including one with our Founder Gil Penalosa.