Creating Good places for Interaction

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Creating Good places for Interaction
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What is a good place for interaction?

• Good places for interaction are places where
  people often from many parts of the community
  and/or diverse backgrounds meet naturally and
  interact comfortably and often pleasurably
  because of the nature or attraction of the space
  and/or the activities associated with it.

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What is a good place for interaction?

• Good places for interaction have a reason for
  people to go there.
• Good places for interaction have a reason for
  people to want to stay once theyve arrived.
• Good places for interaction feel safe and
  comfortable.
• Good places for interaction are welcoming and
  accessible to everyone.

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Why should you create good places for interaction?

• They can help to develop a sense of community
  pride and ownership.
• They can help build a true sense of community
  among people of diverse origins, backgrounds, and
  points of view.
• They can expand childrens horizons through
  interactions with people who have different
  assumptions and expectations.
• They can make the community a more pleasant place
  to live because more people have contact with one
  another.
• They can increase the general enjoyment of life
  in the community.

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Why should you create good places for
interaction?

• They can increase safety and security.
• They can improve the livability of neighborhoods.
  
• They can promote individuals understanding of
  one anothers culture and humanity.
• They can provide a forum for the exchange of
  ideas.
• They can increase equity.
• They can increase social capital, particularly
  bridging social capital.
• They can increase the chances for concerted
  community action and social change.

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When should you create good places for
interaction?

• When the neighborhood or community is engaged in
  a planning process.
• When theres an economic development initiative.
• When theres a new residential or commercial
  development or major building going up.
• When any major municipal project is in process.

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When should you create good places for
interaction?

• When a neighborhood or community gathering place
  is, or is in danger of, falling into decay or
  being overrun by drug dealers or others who make
  it unpleasant and dangerous for the community to
  use it.
• When barriers to interaction are proposed.
• When an existing good place for interaction is
  threatened.
• When theres tension among different groups that
  share an area or live in neighboring areas.

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Who should create good places for interaction?

• The people who are going to use them.
• Local officials.
• Planners, architects, and designers.
• Developers.
• Community leaders and opinion makers.
• The business community.
• The police and the court system.
• Community activists and community-based
  organizations.

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How do you create good places for interaction?

• You design interaction into them, by giving them
• Reasons for people to want to go there (things to
  see and do).
• Reasons for people to want to stay there
  (seating, food, etc.)
• Comfort and safety (quiet, movable seating, good
  lighting, lots of other people).
• Accessibility and a welcoming feeling (ramps,
  easy access from the street, visibility, wide
  entrances, signs in different languages,
  representations of various cultures).

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• You use incentives for private developers and
  businesses.
• You pass regulations that mandate the inclusion
  of interactive spaces into private and public
  projects.
• You advocate for incentives and regulations, and
  for attention to be paid to spaces in a
  particular neighborhood or area that youre with.
• You organize the community or neighborhood to use
  its own assets people, institutions, physical
  elements, etc. to plan and create or restore
  its own good places for interaction.
• You keep at it indefinitely.