PUBLIC LIFE STUDY TOOLKIT DESIGN

Union Square Partnership (USP) is a Business Improvement District
(BID) that helps manage and promote the economic development
of the greater Union Square Park and 14th Street corridor area in
Manhattan. USP’s responsibilities include maintenance, sanitation,
security, space activation through activities and events, and serving as
a conduit between businesses and City government. USP tasked the
Capstone team with designing a toolkit for surveying its public spaces
to inform future public realm improvements. The team performed a
literature review to understand the most important qualities of good
public space and find ways to innovate USP’s data collection process
using technology. The team developed and field-tested survey formats
found through case studies from other cities’ best practices. The team
produced a toolkit based on these efforts consisting of a methodology, a
set of survey templates, and technology recommendations that USP can
apply to survey its district at scale.