Steve Davies is an advocate for public spaces, placemaking and public markets.  Having formed the Place Solutions Group in 2018, his work takes him around the world as a consultant, facilitator, educator, researcher and speaker.  

​

Steve joined the then fledgling Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in 1978 and guided the development of the organization for 40 years as a member of its senior leadership team. Working closely with Fred Kent and Kathy Madden,  Steve helped  to build PPS into an organization with remarkable depth and influence.  It was in this capacity that he became one of the world’s experts on public spaces and their contribution to the revitalization of cities and communities.

 

Today, much of his work as a consultant to PPS and other clients focuses on public markets and the role they can play in building community, and how placemaking supports local economies.

​

With over 500 major projects on his resume during his long tenure at PPS, however, Steve has built a broad-based portfolio of transformative placemaking projects which have been catalysts for community revitalization in the U.S. and abroad. He is widely recognized for his extensive expertise in downtown urban design, transportation planning, and the design of mixed-use development projects.

​

Steve was instrumental in creating and launching many key initiatives at PPS, including PPS’s programs in public markets and transportation; the Bass Initiative for Innovation and Placemaking; and expanding the global reach of placemaking. With support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Steve's seminal work in the Czech Republic and the Balkans after the fall of communism set the stage for the growth of placemaking as a global movement. These and other programs have gone on to influence professionals, community advocates, and cities across the globe.

​

Since 2016, Steve has been Assistant Visiting Professor at  The Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Graduate Program on Placemaking and Urban Management.  His popular course – The Economics of Place – explores the economic benefits that vital public spaces and public markets generate for the local economy, as well as their wider social, environmental, health, and quality of life impacts. 

​

An inspiring and accessible speaker, Steve has introduced tens of thousands of professionals to the PPS placemaking process. He has co-authored and written many books and articles, including Public Markets and Community Revitalization, Managing Downtown Public Spaces, and The Role of Transit in Creating Livable Metropolitan Communities. He was a contributing writer to PPS’s second edition of How to Turn a Place Around.