Somerville develops framework for creating public spaces

As a part of the city’s effort to create more public open space, Somerville has released a Civic Space Design Guide, a framework for developers and the city to follow when collaborating on creating space that is not only open to residents and visitors, but is welcoming in its design and accessibility.

“Somerville is leading by example with this guide, which represents our commitment to innovation in public space and community building,” said Mayor Katjana Ballantyne in a statement. “The Civic Space Design Guide … elevates how development can contribute to our city.”

“We’re creating spaces that are welcoming to everyone,” she said, “and enhancing the quality of life for all who live, work and visit Somerville.”

The guide works alongside the city’s zoning ordinance, which requires certain development projects to design and build new open spaces for public use that can be either city- or developer-owned. The developer-owned spaces, referred to as civic spaces or POPS in the guide, have been around since the 1960s, but are not always serving the neighborhood in which they are situated. They are often not accessible or seen as public spaces by the public, due to design features that are seen as unwelcoming or due to a lack of signage.

Somerville is the most densely populated city in New England, with 81,000 residents in 4 square miles. City officials say that residents consistently express that public open space is a community resource that should be protected and expanded.

“The Civic Space Design Guide, and the zoning ordinance, address these points by requiring developers to work with the city and residents to make open spaces that serve everyone, Somerville residents and their tenants, in a welcoming and active way,” said Luisa Oliveira, director of the Division of Public Space and Urban Forestry. “More open space is only valuable if it is truly public so all people can play, gather and be in nature.”

The Division of Public Space and Urban Forestry provides tools for implementation and enforcement to make sure these public spaces are truly public, and will help the city reach its larger public space goals.

The city’s SomerVision 2040 goals include adding more than 100 acres of open space across the city. With real estate costs to contend with (the city faces a cost of $17.4 million per acre in SomerVision 2040), the city recognizes that working with private developers is key to creating new open spaces to reach its goal. Oliveira noted that the city has increased open space by 6.7 acres since January of 2022, and 1.8 of those acres was funded by private development.

“In the most densely populated city in the northeast, every square foot of open space matters,” Oliveira said.

The new guide outlines the city’s open space goals, describing the types of spaces the city aspires to create, which include safe and accessible infrastructure and clear signage, increasing the urban tree canopy and the use of plant materials that are consistent with the 2020 Native Species Ordinance and the Somerville Pollinator Action Plan, creating “performative landscapes” that promote ecological resiliency and are responsive to climate change, and protecting public access in perpetuity.

Oliveira said the city released the guide to explain the intention and process to developers, designers and the public, but “our developer partners have been collaborating with us on these spaces for years,” in places like Boynton Yards Park, Union Square Station Plaza, Lou Ann David Park and Martha Perry Lowe Park.

“The parks that have been built since the requirements were put in place are of better quality and more well designed, for residents and workplace tenants of the buildings,” she said. “It’s a win-win.”

The guide can be found on the SomerVoice page, along with a map of POPS in the city.