A new clearinghouse has assembled a wealth of information on creating livable communities. Better-Buildings.org, a venture of Project for Public Spaces developed in collaboration with the AIA Center for Livable Communities, American Architectural Foundation, Mayor’s Institute on City Design, General Services Administration, and International Downtown Association, offers an information treasure trove for people who design, manage, or rent space in buildings located in urban communities, particularly offices, mixed-use buildings, or facilities like courthouses, libraries, and academic centers. It explains how to make buildings fit better into their surroundings and improve the local community.

Better-Buildings.org walks users through the process of turning ordinary buildings into valuable assets by:
• Designing new buildings or retrofitting old ones so that they fit in better with their urban surroundings
• Managing public spaces such as plazas, lobbies, and atriums so they become assets to the community and amenities for tenants, visitors, and the general public
• Joining forces with other property owners, local government, and civic groups to improve individual buildings, public spaces, and entire districts
• Balancing current concerns about security with access for users and the general public
• Measuring success
• Making the case for better buildings.

The Web site, built on the notion that “good buildings can make a great difference,” offers research reports, case studies on architecture and site-planning principles, success stories, toolkits, and FAQ files that can help explain these processes.

PPS also offers primers on “Why Many Public Spaces Fail” and a “Hall of Shame” featuring 19 projects that qualify as “empty, unsafe, dysfunctional, uninviting, disorienting, or inaccessible.” Conversely, PPS provides a selection of great public buildings worldwide with descriptions, analysis, historical backgrounds, and images and the PPS Project Experience Categories.

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