Do you have a project in mind?
How can we revitalize a downtown area?
For local governments, any revitalization project faces three challenges: budget, timelines, and the selection of partners. Polymobyl, an expert in public space design, explains how to revitalize a downtown area while combating heat islands and adopting an eco-friendly approach.
Revitalizing the City Center: What Solutions Are Available to Public Authorities?
To promote urban activities and support local businesses, local governments have an option that avoids the need for large-scale construction projects. Sustainable street furniture is a powerful tool for revitalizing downtown areas, for three reasons.
Speed of deployment
Unlike infrastructure projects or long-term landscaping projects, the installation of street furniture takes only a few weeks. Its immediate visual impact is invaluable to local governments seeking to demonstrate tangible results. This is particularly true ahead of an election or as part of a funding program.
Impact on Commercial Attractiveness
A comfortable, shaded, and flower-filled public space keeps visitors there longer. Wayfinding and accessibility for people with disabilities also play a significant role. These benefits directly benefit local businesses.
The link between the quality of street furniture and commercial vitality is well documented. This type of development has a tangible impact on the vitality of downtown areas and local communities.
Landscaping
A well-placed urban planter can transform a storefront, a patio, or a street—without requiring any landscaping or irrigation work.
The addition of greenery also contributes to the well-being of people in the area. Bringing nature back into the city, even on a small scale, helps combat the effects of global warming.
What role does street furniture play in a downtown revitalization project?
Various types of businesses can be used to revitalize a downtown area or enhance the appeal of commercial districts.
Seats and Benches
These elements help create places to pause. They invite users to make the space their own and settle in. Benches placed along a pedestrian street or around a plaza, for example, transform a thoroughfare into a living space.
With their playful and colorful design, LUD benches blend seamlessly into a public square. The recently redesigned TUB line invites people to take a break, available in modern pastel colors.
Outdoor Dining Tables and Furniture
Picnic tables are essential for bringing life to a plaza or patio. They create the perfect setting for a lunch break, a shared cup of coffee, or an informal get-together, which supports the local economy.
The PUR, NUT, 25°&Cie, and LUD lines meet these needs. Our NUT covered table and LUD picnic table are perfect for creating a relaxing space.
Urban Planters
As effective tools for organizing space, they help define areas, create atmospheres, and bring life to a facade or a pedestrian street… Modular, movable, and customizable, they are a natural fit for any urban center revitalization project.
LUD planters with trellises, CUB green pergolas, and LUD water-collecting umbrellas are good examples. Their innovative design and originality make them central and functional elements of urban landscaping. Finally, a well-designed urban planter provides shade and a cool retreat for city dwellers.
Bicycle Shelters
Revitalizing urban spaces requires rethinking mobility. Providing secure bicycle parking in the city center encourages people to ride bicycles and reduces the space taken up by cars. The 25°&Cie line features open or secure bike shelters, which can be placed next to a rest area or a smoking shelter. Each unit is fully customizable in terms of dimensions and format, capacity, types of bicycles or e-bikes, and accessories. The shelters in this line are also fully customizable in terms of colors and materials, and can feature a logo.
Polymobyl products are designed with a focus on sustainable development in accordance with current urban planning policies:
- eco-design (two of our products received the highest rating following an independent audit);
- plastic-free materials that are recyclable at the end of their life cycle;
- non-toxic treatments…
This approach enables local governments to make choices consistent with the environmental commitments of current revitalization programs.
To receive a site audit and a customized design solution to revitalize a downtown area, contact Polymobyl. From design to installation, a single point of contact will guide your project.
