Phil Myrick

Philip C. Myrick (born July 2, 1962) is an urban designer, global public space planner, advisor to planning and development projects, speaker, and writer. He is the former CEO of Project for Public Spaces, and a leading practitioner of placemaking, a method of engaging with communities to activate their public realm, create authentic sociable places, and stimulate economic development. Myrick’s work has helped many cities raise their quality of life, strengthen neighborhood ties, stimulate economic development, and engage and empower citizens in the process. He consults with municipalities, nonprofits, universities, cultural destinations, and mixed-use developments. Myrick has worked with clients in over 15 countries, especially the U.S. He also delivers professional training, workshops, and speaking engagements. Myrick is the CEO of Phil Myrick, LLC.

Early life

Myrick was born in Worcester, MA, and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Grinnell College. Myrick spent several years abroad: he was raised in South Africa until he was six; then, after college, he practiced sculpture in Africa and Europe for several years before returning to New York to pursue a Master’s of Urban Planning (MUP) at Hunter College.

Career

Public space planner

Myrick has worked to create more connected and vibrant communities, applying decades of research into how humans interact with their environments and each other. He has planned and designed projects in downtowns, waterfronts, main streets, campuses, and mixed-use developments.

In 2020, Myrick launched Phil Myrick, LLC., a consultancy to advise local governments, developers, universities, innovation districts, downtown groups, designers, and landscape architects.

Myrick was associated with the influential Project for Public Spaces (PPS) for 20 years, with his last appointment being the CEO of the organization. Before rejoining PPS as CEO in June 2018, he was a member of PPS’s staff for 18 years, last working as Senior Vice President. He represented the organization worldwide and helped develop the organization’s profile and practice. Two of his recognized projects with PPS include Discovery Green in Houston and Hemisfair Park in San Antonio.

From 2013-2018, Myrick worked at Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. (MIG) as Director of Planning.

Myrick sits on the Board of Directors of City Parks Alliance.

In December 2018, Myrick attended the International Placemaking Week in Wuhan, China to launch the China Placemaking Network, along with partners at UN-Habitat and the City of Wuhan. The network was created to share best practices to encourage placemaking and public participation in China.

Speaker

As a veteran in placemaking, urban planning, and design, Myrick is sought-after for his workshops in advanced methods of placemaking. He has been a guest speaker at workshops and conferences over the last two decades, including recent appearances at national conferences sponsored by the International Downtown Association, American Planning Association, Urban Land Institute, Association of University and Research Parks, Walk Bike Places, and Placemaking Week.

Work

Myrick’s work is based on decades of research into how people interact with their environments and each other. His work with PPS in Central Europe helped introduce public involvement techniques to post-Soviet democracies while helping NGOs engage in placemaking projects. His work in placemaking planning and urban design spans the globe with some of his hallmark projects being Discovery Green and Emancipation Park in Houston, Pittsburgh Market Square, Hemisfair Park, and Pearl Brewery in San Antonio.

Myrick integrates a variety of theories and practices that make for a unique approach to urban planning and design. His work with Fred Kent and the Project for Public Spaces was based largely on the studies of urban life conducted by William H. Whyte. He was heavily influenced as well by authors Jane Jacobs and Don Norman.

The theory of affordances has also been a recurring influence and theme in his work. Myrick often refers to sticky versus slippery environments and uses various techniques to create places that have the power to draw people and keep them there. Essentially this looks to improve the performance of public spaces by providing a richer mixture of features, amenities, design details, and program elements, grouped strategically and in service of goals to attract people. This approach brings urban design closer to the user-centered design approach that is used widely in industrial design, software design, and device design. The approach seeks to understand and satisfy the motivations of different user groups, even in the design of a streetscape.

Myrick also uses an ecological framework to create places that are attractive to people. His presentations and writings on An Ecological Approach to Placemaking explain how planners and architects need to think more deeply about how cities and their public spaces are habitats, with people as the primary (but not exclusive) species. This ecological approach looks at six key attributes, room, richness, program, behavior settings, diversity, and exploration, that can be used together to evaluate and improve the experiential qualities of any urban district or place.

Awards and recognition

Some of Myrick’s signature projects have been recognized with awards from major professional organizations. These awards include:

• Discovery Green, Houston. APA Great Places designation (American Planning Association), 2019; ULI Development of Distinction (Winner), 2009

• Pearl Brewery (“The Pearl”), San Antonio. ULI Global Award for Excellence 2017-18; APA Great Neighborhood designation, 2017; AIA Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design, 2014; Phoenix Award, 2014; Lyftie Award, 2018

• Congress Street, Tucson, APA Great Street designation, 2017

• Market Square in Pittsburgh, APA Great Public Spaces in Pennsylvania, 2015; Planetizen Top 100 Places in the US and Canada (#7 rank), 2011

• Emancipation Park in Houston, ULI Development of Distinction (Winner Urban Open Space), 2019

• Market Square in Houston, Downtown Achievement Pinnacle Award, 2011

• Yanaguana Garden / Hemisfair Park in San Antonio, Great Places designation (American Planning Association), 2019; ULI Development of Distinction (Winner), 2009

Myrick has been covered in several books, including Learning from Bryant Park, American Urbanist, Hyperlocal, and Rural by Design. He has been cited as a source in the following academic papers.

• Abdelkader, Mai M., Marwa Khalifa, and Abeer Elshater. “Lessons from COVID-19 Outbreaks for Spaces between Buildings Using Tactical Urbanism.” Journal of Engineering and Applied Science 70.1 n. pag. Web.

• Asif, Nayeem, and Faiza Dakhani. “Street, Landscape and Courtyard: Study on the Essence of Public Space in Islamic Built Environment.” International Journal of Engineering & Technology (2019): n. pag. Web.

• Chan, Diana L. H., and Edward Spodick. “Space Development.” New Library World 115.5/6 (2014): 250–262. Web.

• CMI, John Neelankavil, and S. Ally Sornam. “Library Space and Content Management for a Networked Society.” Dharmaram Publications, Dharmaram College, Bengaluru 560 029, India (2014): n. pag. Print.

• Beza, Beau Bradley, and Jaime Hernández-Garcia. “From Placemaking to Sustainability Citizenship.” Journal of Place Management and Development 11.2 (2018): 192–207. Web.

• Learning Space Attributes: Reflections on AcademicLibrary Design and its Use.

• Elena Maceviciute. Relevance of the spatial triad theory in (re) designing and planning of academic library spaces. 2020.

• Tarducci, R. R.; Birche, M.; Cortizo, D.. Revista De Urbanismo. Analysis of public space in the face of the pandemic in an informal settlement in Argentina. 44:96-111, 2021.

• Artigo em Espanhol | Web of Science | ID: covidwho-1323397.

• Ghavampour, Ensiyeh, and Brenda Vale. “Revisiting the ‘Model of Place’: A Comparative Study of Placemaking and Sustainability.” Urban Planning 4.2 (2019): 196–206. Web.

• Sheila Corrall. Library Space Assessment: A Review and Professional Education Case Study. School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Accepted for Northumbria 11 Proceedings.

• Sassen, Saskia, and Karima Kourtit. 2021. "A Post-Corona Perspective for Smart Cities: ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’" Sustainability 13, no. 17: 9988.

• Abbasi, Neda, Tucker, Richard, Fisher, Kenn and Gerrity, Robert 2014, Evaluation of University of Queensland Library Spaces: three case studies at St Lucia Campus, in ALIA 2014: Proceedings of the 2014 Australian Library and Information Association National Conference, Australian Library and Information Association, Deakin A.C.T., pp. 1-14.

• Jones, Peter ORCID: 0000-0002-9566-9393 and Comfort, Daphne (2021) Place-making, housebuilding companies and planning. Town and Country Planning, 90 (7/8). pp. 266-270.