When nurturing and care happen in public spaces, people benefit and communities become stronger

8 min read2 hours ago

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Events at SoFA Pocket Park in San José have brought together community members to learn about healing, connection and growth. Image credit: Lan Nguyen.

While healing is often thought of as something done in solitude, there is an enormous opportunity for the public commons to become a place for human restoration and revitalization. These spaces offer ample opportunities to gather and be with other people in times of stress, recovery and growth.

From transforming public spaces marked by symbols of oppression and violence, to community programming that is grounded in holistic wellness, our shared civic commons can become an arena for collective healing and a more hopeful, connected society.

We look at examples across the country where public spaces are nurturing and supporting the well-being of people and communities.

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The Macon Mental Health Matters nonprofit has brought wellness workshops to the Cotton Avenue Plaza. Image courtesy of Macon Mental Health Matters.

Facing painful histories and creating positivity in community

In Macon, Georgia, the story of healing is unfolding in the very heart of the city’s public spaces where places once burdened by painful history are being reclaimed as commons of care, connection and hope — most evidently in Cotton Avenue Plaza. For decades, the plaza was dominated by a statue of an unknown Confederate soldier. Its removal in 2022 after years of public debate created an opening, both physical and symbolic, to reimagine the space.

Today, Cotton Avenue Plaza is no longer defined by that monument but by the gatherings that now fill it. The space is energized by food vendors, walking tours, kids’ games and pop-up gyms, and on Second Fridays, yoga mats are unfurled across the bricks and art therapy sessions invite reflection as the sun sets.

This work is part of a larger civic transformation. Just blocks away, Rosa Parks Square is being redesigned as a welcoming hub with shaded seating, flexible gathering areas and spaces. Macon Mental Health Matters, a local nonprofit, is poised to help activate the square with the same kinds of programs, wellness workshops, counseling access and creative activities that are already enlivening Cotton Avenue Plaza. Together, these spaces form a network of healing in the commons.

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Attendees at a Redesign event shared input about the future of a East Lake Street building burned during the civil unrest in summer 2020. Image credit: Jasmine Baxter.

Another city is in the midst of determining how their public spaces will reflect their healing from deep tragedies. The Minneapolis community’s healing is an ongoing journey following George Floyd’s murder in the spring of 2020.

A former U.S. Bank branch in the city’s Longfellow neighborhood was among several buildings burned in the civil unrest that year. Redesign — a local developer and a member of the local Civic Commons team — received the building as a donation with the goal of redeveloping the site to stimulate community growth, and has been gathering public input about what kind of civic-minded space the 2.4 acre site on East Lake Street should become.

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Minneapolis/St. Paul convener Paul Bauknight gathered ideas about spatial justice from attendees at the event. Image credit: Jasmine Baxter.

To share the first round of design concepts and community feedback, Redesign held a public event on the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s death this past spring, and chose to include family-friendly elements: art workshops, roller skating, puppetry and community design stations. Minneapolis-St. Paul co-convener Paul Bauknight talked with attendees about the ideas and importance of spatial justice by asking the question, “what would it take for you to be, thrive, express and connect?”

Despite the traumatic context, Redesign’s gathering had elements of levity and hope. It was “a true joy to be a part of,” said Shari Aronson, a founder of the Z Puppets Rosenschnoz puppeteer company, calling it “a great way to bring people together and get some magic sparkling on Lake Street.”

By centering joyful healing in the public realm, Macon and Minneapolis are showing a pathway to a brighter, more just future for communities.

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Camden’s parks have become focal points for community wellness. Image credit: Camden Community Partnership

Civic pride and hope for the future of the community

The public realm can be a source of healing for communities, but not if it is in disarray. Recent research shows that neighborhood physical disorder — defined as “visible signs of urban decay, including abandoned buildings, graffiti, litter, and other disorderly elements in public spaces” — is associated with psychological distress. Investing in high-quality civic spaces and programming can help reduce stress among residents while increasing community pride.

In Camden, the physical condition of the city’s green spaces like Whitman Park had declined after years of disinvestment and economic challenges. During the pandemic, park programming disappeared, and many neighbors came to see their local parks only as athletic fields or as forgotten patches of land rather than as places to sit, read, relax or just simply be.

So the free yoga, group therapy and defense training sessions provided by local nonprofit Daelight Foundation at the park have sparked new feelings of pride and inclusion for Camden residents. For many, these gatherings are the only accessible opportunity to receive support in a safe, welcoming environment. Camden residents also shared that seeing activities once viewed as geographically distant, too expensive or simply “not for them” are now taking place right in the heart of the community as a point of pride.

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Camden residents say the Daelight Foundation‘s free yoga sessions at Whitman Park has brought community pride on top of wellness. Image credit: Camden Community Partnership.

The momentum is growing — with support from the City of Camden and the Camden Community Partnership, families now come to Whitman Park seeking information about services. Residents are slowly beginning to embrace the idea of holistic living — not just physical fitness, but mental wellness, community pride and social connection.

Public spaces can also offer vital opportunities for flourishing, connecting and blossoming.

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San Pedro Square in San José hosts popular community dance and zumba events that liven up downtown streets on weekends. Image credit: Lan Nguyen.

In San José, lively events and networking programs have brought new life and connections to the city’s downtown through a local plaza and pocket park. The SoFA Pocket Park knits together gardening, healthy food access and community gathering in a compact urban space through a collaboration helmed by local organizations We Start Gardens and Veggielution. We Start Gardens invited the community to garden events and workshops while Veggielution built a network of local leaders in food justice and procurement, laying the groundwork for intentional, relationship-based programming. Together they’ve brought people together around shared values of sustainability, health and belonging while giving local businesses visibility at well-attended events and workshops. Guests said one event sparked “lots of great conversations with new and existing friends and partners.”

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The SoFA Pocket Park in San José combines gardening, healthy food access and community gathering. Image credit: Lan Nguyen.

Even without participating in events, when residents see their local parks, public spaces and neighborhood plazas being used and cared for, it spurs optimism and community momentum. Investing in revitalizing public spaces allows residents to regain hope and pride in their communities.

Invest in public spaces that amplify public voices

Public spaces that thoughtfully reflect local voices also restore dignity to communities that have traditionally been excluded and disinvested.

This work is the motivation for the local partners behind Cincinnati’s CROWN 34-mile urban trail loop, where the expansion of the trail by lead organizer Tri-State Trails is prioritizing connections to several historically under-invested neighborhoods of color.

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A community bike ride sponsored by the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, local business Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar and the Red Bike bike share program brought people out for fitness and fun. Image credit: Caitlin Sparks.

One of those communities is Avondale. This historically Black neighborhood was close in proximity to the Wasson Way segment of the CROWN, but plans were not in place to connect it to the trail until 2019.

With the addition of more lighting and safety features on the local segment of the trail, neighborhood pop-up bike shops and community bike rides like one hosted by an Avondale small business ensure that residents can feel comfortable using the amenities — critical to making the trail relevant for the community.

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The multi-faceted event aimed to get local residents familiar and comfortable with using the CROWN trail and help improve its future. Image credit: Caitlin Sparks.

With further expansion into neighborhoods like Mill Creek Valley and into the Beekman Corridor, listening to resident voices, neighborhood groups, and nonprofit partners, Tri-State Trails and CROWN’s organizers are ensuring that the trail’s future growth will reflect local voices and priorities, and will continue this framework throughout future expansions.

Giving residents a chance to be heard about the future of their communities is the path to ensuring that healing continues. In Akron, residents of neighborhoods like downtown, Summit Lake and Ohio & Erie Canal Park have a long history of things done to and not with, of things promised but not delivered.

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More than 5,000 people attended the Akron Pride Festival show and fireworks at Lock 3 park. Image credit: Hughie’s Event Production Services.

When Lock 3 park in downtown Akron was redeveloped, Akron Civic Commons and city officials strove to ensure the plans were designed for, and by, residents, taking their feedback and perspectives into consideration. The park features upgrades requested by residents, including quality landscaping, shaded seating and a world-class performance pavilion to host local and regional acts as well as national-scale artists.

Akron officials and community leaders launched a survey at the beginning of 2025 for residents to provide feedback and input on music and festival options for Lock 3,** **giving them agency to shape future programming in their public spaces that reflects the vibrant culture and diverse interests of the community.

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The city has held open house sessions to talk to Akron residents about the Innerbelt Master Plan. Image credit: City of Akron.

Now, residents are engaging in discussions about the future of a decommissioned highway called the Innerbelt with intention to heal the harms that Akron’s largely Black communities felt from the highway’s construction in the 1960s that displaced their homes. “As a resident, I’ve had the honor of being able to lend my voice to reimagine downtown Akron’s Lock 3 Park and the Innerbelt, and it has helped me fall deeper in love with this place that I call home,” said Akron resident and civic leader Bronlynn Thurman.