City of Boston Tactical Public Realm Guidelines

The objective of the guidelines was twofold. First, the City has a policy goal of expanding the ways in which the public realm is used. An important part of this goal is encouraging public-private partnerships both large and small. In addition to setting the parameters for siting and design of a parklet or plaza, the new standards are aimed at making the process simpler and more transparent, in order to actively invite participation from neighborhood groups, small businesses, and deep-pocketed developers alike.

Equally important, the process of developing the standards required interdepartmental consensus-building that was essential for ensuring that the new standards would be adopted and promoted by the various departments involved in permitting.