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Session Guide

60-Minute Education Session

SUN-C03: Gather Here: Reinvigorating Iconic Spaces for Celebration, Protest and Community in Boston

Sunday, October 29, 2023
3:45pm – 4:45pm CT
1.00 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AICP, FL, NY/HSW

What does it mean to renew landscapes for civic expression in a legacy city? Join public and private practitioners to explore how the trifold transformation of Boston’s main civic spaces—the Common, City Hall Plaza, and Copley Square—is reframing conversations, connections, and civic life among Bostonians.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand the history and evolution of Boston’s public open spaces, from indigenous meeting grounds to colonial-era streetscapes to contemporary celebrations, demonstrations, and cultural events.
  • Use a lens of equity, inclusion, and democratic expression to explore the concurrent revitalization of Boston’s most iconic public spaces—the Common, City Hall Plaza, and Copley Square..
  • Expand the notion of democratic public space from central downtown gathering spaces to heterogenous neighborhood nodes, exploring how Boston’s diverse fabric provides intimate space for civic and cultural expression.
  • Consider how our profession and the public spaces we touch can play a role in improving equitable access to free speech.