Something to stand on

摘要

Providing The Right platform is sometimes all it takes. Instead of planning new pedestrian plazas by the usual bureaucratic means, New York City's department of transportation just marks an area on a street with temporary materials and then lets local organisations, architects and citizens decide what to do with it. The programme has so far produced 59 plazas, including the Pearl Street Triangle in Brooklyn, a small urban oasis with big potted plants and shaded seating.