Please join us for a Special Screening of William H. (“Holly”) Whyte's newly restored film–The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces–with the Founders of Project for Public Spaces and The Social Life Project.
Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
6:30pm - Doors open with light refreshments in the lobby
7pm - Screening
8pm - 8:45pm Panel Discussion & Q&A
Location: Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003
In partnership with Anthology Film Archives (AFA) and Project for Public Space, the Social Life Project invites you to a special screening of Holly’s classic film The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces on Wednesday, October 1st—Holly Whyte's birthday! We are thrilled that the original film has been restored to such high quality, based on a 16mm print that we had kept in storage for decades, and we look forward to sharing it with a new generation of placemakers.
A panel discussion will follow the screening with the Founders of Project for Public Spaces and The Social Life Project, Fred Kent, Kathy Madden, and Steve Davies, as well as Ethan Kent, Executive Director of PlacemakingX. Together, they’ll explore how they were inspired by Holly’s insights, and how that spark lives on today in the global placemaking movement. Ethan Kent will moderate, with an introduction from Nate Storring, Co-Executive Director at Project for Public Spaces.
Fred, Kathy, and Steve established Project for Public Spaces in 1975 to apply Holly’s techniques of time-lapse photography and systematic observations of public spaces more broadly, and they frequently interacted with Holly as he refined and completed the film before its release in 1980. In 2018, after over 40 years at PPS, we founded the Social Life Project. This global resource center pays homage to Holly, sharing the common-sense wisdom he imparted about what makes a successful public space that welcomes and inspires everyone's social life.
On September 26, Project for Public Spaces will also be hosting a screening and panel discussion about the past, present, and future of public space moderated by Co-Executive Director Nate Storring, featuring Rosa Chang, Co-Founder & President of Gotham Park; Setha Low, Professor at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York (CUNY) & Director of the Public Space Research Group; and Claire Weisz, Founding Partner of WXY Architecture. Learn more and purchase tickets here.