Let’s step into the Time Machine and set the dial back to 2013.
The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is hosting a small gathering of place makers in Downtown Detroit to share innovative, community-focused work underway. Detroit has just entered bankruptcy, and nonprofits, including the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the Kresge Foundation, and the William Davidson Foundation, are stepping up to continue projects that will improve the quality of life for residents in Downtown Detroit and throughout the city.
Since 1975, PPS has helped over 3,500 communities across 50 countries and all 50 U.S. states imagine their futures and meet their needs through public space. It has grown into the go-to resource for placemaking as an approach to designing and managing public spaces with the people who use them every day.
That said, the organization’s fondness for Detroit and appreciation and respect for the DDP and our programs and initiatives run deep.
That small gathering in 2013 was the precursor to the 2026 International Placemaking Week (IPW) conference and the selection of Detroit as the event’s fifth host city.
We’ve Come a Long Way
In late June, nearly 650 urban planners, place-makers, and city leaders from across the country and around the world made their way to Detroit for IPW, with the DDP as a co-host.
Now that we’re a few weeks post-event, the full impact of the conference is becoming clearer. Beyond introducing hundreds of placemaking leaders to the DDP’s work, Detroit’s public spaces, partnerships, and collaborative approach to city-building, the event generated measurable economic activity, inspired new ideas, and further established Detroit as an international model for creating vibrant, people-centered places.
Based on visitation patterns and industry spending estimates, attendees generated approximately $540,000 in hotel spending from June 24-26, along with an additional $140,000 at Downtown restaurants, bars, and quick-service establishments. These figures demonstrate how destination conferences benefit not only attendees but also the city’s businesses, hotels, restaurants, and hospitality partners.
Attendees took notes, took pictures, and took to social media, and the residual effect of these influencers will serve the city well in attracting future conferences and increased tourism.
Hosting International Placemaking Week reinforced DDP’s role as a national and global leader in urban planning and innovation while showcasing the partnerships and shared vision that continue to shape Downtown Detroit.
PPS has confirmed that this was the most successful International Placemaking Week to date, and we’ve put the bar really, really high for future host cities.
‘Olé, Olé, Olé’
Every four years, there is a World Cup tournament. This year, the USA serves as a host country. Detroit, the greatest sports city in the world, boasts both a United Soccer League team and a public space where thousands of fans can congregate. The perfect storm, as they say.
Enter the Detroit City Football Club Watch Parties in Campus Martius Park. Detroit City Football Co-Founder and CEO Sean Mann wanted to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the World Cup and Team USA, and his idea to host Watch Parties resulted in four of the most successful events of the 2026 summer season.
According to the DDP’s Data team, the four events brought more than 21,000 people Downtown. Some items of note:
- Most of the attendees stayed in the Park for the entirety of the matches. And while these were not necessarily overnight guests, the economic impact generated before and after the game in parking, food, drink, and retail sales can be estimated at well north of half a million dollars.
- The demographics of the attendees were diverse, with Oakland and Macomb County residents (and residents of other counties) outnumbering those from Wayne County (61 percent vs. 40 percent). Like Placemaking Week, the Watch Parties likely attracted visitors not familiar with the city, but who are likely to return.
- The DDP team expertly executed these events on a moment’s notice. With support from the Downtown Detroit Business Improvement Zone Ambassadors, Detroit Police Department, and other safety agencies, all four events were clean, safe, and welcoming. A DDP hallmark.
The Watch Parties also further support Detroit’s new reputation as “sticky,” as identified by the Gensler Research Institute. The downtown stickiness metric looks at how frequently people go to their downtowns and how long they stay. Detroit ranked first nationally in both frequency and length of visit. According to Gensler, nearly a third of Detroit residents go downtown because they enjoy it, a stat nearly double the national average of 16 percent.
For more on the Gensler study, read my June blog.
We Make it Happen Together
The opportunity for Detroit to host International Placemaking Week and the World Cup watch parties would not have happened without the DDP and without CMP. Campus Martius Park put us on the placemaking map years ago, and the DDP ensures that not only is it well maintained and expertly programmed, but it also, under our leadership, continues to evolve to meet the needs of the city, its businesses, and residents.
Both events leveraged the DDP’s strengths and the expertise of its Board of Directors and team members. And both should reinforce that, whether we’re addressing critical infrastructure, master park planning, talent attraction, or commercial and residential development, the DDP should be part of the conversation and the solution.
After all, we’ve been doing this for over 100 years.
So, thank you, Detroit, for showing up and showing off. Thank you for making the World Cup a reason to come together. For welcoming place-makers from around the world and doing it so well, they already want to come back. For demonstrating that the city has far surpassed its legacy of ruin to become an urban inspiration and destination. And thank you for providing the canvas for the DDP to do what we do best: Cultivate economic and social impact in Detroit.
