Two years after planners began exploring how new designs could help revive and enliven the Civic Center area’s vast plazas, a conceptual plan to do exactly that will be unveiled at City Hall.

Then the hard part begins — finding ways to turn the renderings into real life, and gaining the political support and funding that’s necessary to tackle one of San Francisco’s most troubled public landscapes.

The details being released on Wednesday encompass 15 acres of streets and plazas from City Hall east to Market Street. Civic Center Plaza would be redesigned, as would United Nations Plaza. The block of Fulton Street between them would be transformed as well, with lawns and gathering spaces in place of asphalt.

Whatever the images will show, they’re part of a process that will require detailed plans and formal environmental studies. Still, the fact that the effort has gotten this far is a sign of progress.

“It’s a fundamental leap of faith to take the first big step and move forward,” said Willett Moss of CMG Landscape Architecture, the firm selected by the city’s Planning Department in 2017 to lead the design efforts. “There are an array of pieces coming together, but we hope people will see a plan that coheres attractively.”

The complexity of the effort is seen in the list of eight city agencies participating in the effort. The design team includes 10 consultants besides CMG.

The challenges are equally complex.

Today’s strains are obvious to anyone who walks through the area. Drug dealing and open drug use is commonplace along the Main Library’s Fulton Street edge. The same is true of U.N. Plaza, and has been despite city efforts that as far back as 2001 included removal of the benches that once lined portions of the space. The sunken fountain that was intended to be the plaza’s centerpiece is off limits behind metal barricades, awaiting repairs.

But there also are signs of progress — particularly at Civic Center Plaza, where the makeover of two playgrounds along Hyde Street has been a diverse success, attracting children and families that appear to span all economic classes and ethnic groups.

A small Bi-Rite Cafe that opened in October does brisk business across Larkin Street from the library. City-sponsored events in the plaza, such as ice skating and youth soccer, have been well-received.

“More and more, people believe in the work we’re doing here,” said Joaquin Torres, director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “We’re all very aware that the challenges are persistent, but it’s exciting to see the momentum.”

For planners and designers, these glimmers show that well-focused design and programming can pay dividends.

“You really see the potential of the space coming to life,” said Nicholas Perry, the planner overseeing the effort for the Planning Department. “A lot of people pass through. If you give reasons to stay, they will.”

Another lesson is that most people don’t need to be dazzled when it comes to public space. Themed attractions are less important than the basics: places to play, places to relax, places to explore and places to eat.

“We were geeking out initially on the demographics of all the populations in and around Civic Center,” Moss admitted. “We finally realized everybody wants the same thing — a space that’s inclusive, accessible and celebratory.”

These “Aha!” moments came amid the slow grind of San Francisco politics.

The effort billed as the Civic Center Public Realm Plan was launched in the fall of 2015, but it was January 2017 before the first consultants were hired to analyze precisely how the area was being used during the week.

The CMG team was hired in June of that year. Three design concepts were released last spring, each with a different focus — “Public Platform,” “Culture Connector” and “Civic Sanctuary.” The release date for a final vision was to be in November, which came and went.

The conceptual design being presented Wednesday at City Hall combines elements of each approach, planners say.

Civic Center timeline A century of evolution: https://bit.ly/2T3DFFx From three to one An open house to display the final design concepts for the public spaces within San Francisco’s Civic Center will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 in City Hall’s South Light Court.

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As for the ever-shifting release date, “we needed a little bit more time and then it hit the holidays,” Perry said. Overall, “This hasn’t been a winding road, but there were stops and starts along the way” — not to mention the need to run various details by different city departments as well as Civic Center’s array of interest groups.

Assuming that the conceptual plan is well-received by the public at large, the aim is to start the environmental review process this summer. That effort could take two years.

In terms of implementation, there’s no obvious pot of money to draw on. One source of funds might be to attach portions to various capital improvement efforts.

For instance, BART plans to put a canopy over the large U.N. Plaza entrance. But the cave-like entrance could also be protected from the elements with a structure that also holds market stalls and community meeting space.

Similarly, there will be a need at some point to do structural upgrades to the parking garage beneath the north end of Civic Center Plaza. That effort could be paired with a makeover of the plaza’s surface.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron