In this keynote, Jay Pitter will present her Public Joy Framework, positioning public joy not simply as a feeling, but as civic, cultural, and spatial infrastructure. Drawing on her practice and research, she will explore what might change if public joy became an intentional consideration within planning practice. Together with participants, she will also apply her Public Joy Framework to local case studies. What new prompts might shape community engagement? How might we expand the metrics used to assess the impact of a place? And what becomes possible when we move beyond thinking about communities as user groups and instead engage them as co-stewards? Through these propositions, Jay will invite planners to consider how public joy might expand both the possibilities and impact of their practice.
Speakers:
