Ethan Kent

Ethan Kent is an authority in the practice of Placemaking, with experience on over 200 projects for the Project for Public Spaces (PPS). He works on, evaluates and photographs public spaces in at least 50 cities and 10 countries every year.

Over 12 years at PPS, Ethan has been integral to the development of Placemaking as a transformative approach to community development, planning and urban design. Ethan has led a broad spectrum of Placemaking efforts for key public spaces including Portland, Oregon’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, Times Square in New York, Kennedy Plaza in Providence, Rhode Island, Garden Place in Hamilton, New Zealand and Sub Centro Las Condes in Santiago, Chile. Utilizing lessons learned through his project work, Ethan regularly conducts trainings to build Placemaking capacity and strategic plans for cities.

Ethan studied sociology, environmental studies and economics as an undergraduate at Bowdoin College. He explored local development issues in the context of globalization during a year of travel around the world as a participant in the International Honors Program. Ethan did graduate work at Antioch University Seattle's Center for Creative Change in Environment and Community. He attributes his Placemaking education to the communities he has worked with, and to his father, who founded PPS.