The Evolution of Landmark Public Spaces

Public spaces and pathways created in Downtown Minneapolis in the 1960s-1970s have proven their resilience through successive decades of change. Learn how a trio of landmark spaces have been preserved and adapted to meet rising priorities of our time.

From 1960 to 1980, there was a flourishing of human-centered infrastructure in downtown Minneapolis that was driven by planning and business communities trying to preserve the city’s vitality. Nationally important landscape architects reinvented Nicollet Avenue as a pedestrian and transit mall, and then expanded public greenspace with the creation of the adjacent Loring Greenway and Peavey Plaza. All three of these public spaces and pathways have survived to the present day through a strong commitment to original design values, careful reinvestment in physical facilities, and a robust public discourse about how each space should evolve as downtown has changed around them.

These spaces comprise a case study of the interplay between strong original designs along with adaptation. Nicollet Mall and Peavey Plaza were both redesigned in the last decade to address physical deterioration and improve accessibility, sustainability, and activation. Loring Greenway is scheduled for capital improvements in 2028.

Learn how each of these spaces have been redesigned and rehabilitated, managed through a series of evolving public-private partnerships, and what stewardship of this civic infrastructure is necessary looking forward.

These public spaces exemplify a nuanced approach to changing needs over time. This mobile workshop offers relevant and timely lessons about reconciling original design principles with improvements for accessibility, maintenance, sustainability, community engagement, and management of public places to create more vibrant and inclusive cities.