Cities become great when they have a solid foundation. A sturdy network with many nodes well-connected will be able to sustain many of the challenges to come, from worldwide pandemics to bankruptcy. Putting public space revitalization at the center of economic development strategies creates the conditions for organic growth from the grassroots and the natural strengthening of the network.

Good public spaces add shared value, build trust and make neighborhoods, towns and cities more prosperous and happy from the ground up. Just imagine how wide the reach of an economic development strategy would be if it relied on the sum of the efforts of each one of the businesses in an area.

Small businesses play a crucial role in economic revitalization, job creation and prosperity. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, they account for 11.8 million (64% of the total 18.5 million) new jobs created from 1993 to 2011 and occupy between 30% and 50% of all commercial space in the nation.

The style, size and scale of retail are shifting away from the mall and chain department store models, and towards locally sourced, experiential, smaller scale operations that are more sustainable, generate more tax revenue per acre, and create more jobs per square foot than suburban stores with large footprints.

There is a new kind of retail culture in which the business model is not the sale of products but the stewardship of values. Business owners become key parts of a supply chain that is vested in its urban context. In consequence, the design of their stores tends to be very generous with the sidewalk and street. They will instinctively use any props available to contribute to build civic values and transform their storefronts into community hubs.