Placemaking Postcards is a blog series from the Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings where policymakers and practitioners guest-author promising placemaking efforts from across the U.S. and abroad that foster connected, vibrant, and inclusive communities. In line with the principle tenets of placemaking, the goal of the series is to recognize the community as the expert, highlight voices from the field, and to create a community of learning and practice around transformative placemaking.

For as long inequities in wealth and property ownership have existed, economically excluded populations have piloted collective ownership models. From communal farming plots to community land trusts, these models create new power structures that balance outcomes like wealth-building, preserving affordability, and fostering community-led development.

All people deserve safety in their homes, workplaces, parks, and other community spaces. In the U.S., however, access to public safety—just like access to clean air, economic mobility, and high-quality schools—is shaped by where someone lives, with many of our most unsafe places reflecting decades of systemic disinvestment. The Center’s work on community safety takes a holistic approach to examining the place-based factors that influence crime trends, as well as the promising place-based approaches to that reduce crime and support holistic community well-being.

Downtowns are the most productive places in metropolitan areas, and are under constant pressure to deliver economic, social, and environmental value across changing economic and demographic circumstances. How should downtowns remain relevant amid the rise of the digital economy, America’s diversity explosion, and the climate crisis, and how can they help their cities and regions adapt?