Activating Boston Project
2022–Present
Boston, MA
Overview
In Boston, John Hancock invested in accessible, age-inclusive outdoor spaces as a way to improve health, longevity, and wellbeing. In 2022, the City of Boston released a report on Heat Resilience Solutions for Boston, which highlighted five neighborhoods as priority areas. This heightened attention on the climate’s impact on Boston residents presented an opportunity for John Hancock and Healthy Places by Design to create a new initiative to improve and activate outdoor spaces in places experiencing high heat stress.
Our Approach
Healthy Places by Design coordinates Activating Boston in collaboration with John Hancock, the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission and other city agencies, AARP Massachusetts, and UMass Boston. Activating Boston aims to grow the capacity of neighborhood organizations, community members, and partners to increase social connectedness where they live and work, with a focus on public greenspaces.
Results & Impact
In 2022-2023, two grantees—Asian Community Development Corporation (Chinatown) and Four Corners Main Streets (Dorchester)—piloted the initiative. Each had a strong record of working alongside community members and within diverse neighborhoods experiencing severe heat and other environmental stresses. Project coordinators used community-engaged processes to elevate and celebrate the uniqueness of their neighborhoods. ACDC worked with residents and nonprofit partners in Chinatown to create a lasting public art project that enhanced an essential outdoor space and brings people together across generations, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. Four Corners Main Street’s project supported youth and “community ambassadors” to prioritize, improve, and activate public spaces to support neighbor-to-neighbor social connections. Healthy Places by Design provided technical assistance and facilitated peer learning and exchange sessions to strengthen cross-community relationships.
Building on the pilot’s success, a second round of awards fund four additional neighborhood projects for 2024-2025, with a third round in 2025-2027. To date, neighborhood teams collectively determined the most appropriate project—activating and improving a physical space—which connects community members across generations. Activating these spaces involves new infrastructure or design elements, public art, youth and intergenerational programs, community celebrations, and other public events that bring people together to honor neighborhood culture and its unique assets.
The 2024-2025 grantees are:
Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC): ACDC brings together Chinatown residents and neighborhood partners. They are currently partnering with a local artist in creating a mural alongside a centrally-located alleyway. Local high school-aged youth and resident leaders work with ACDC organizers to create popular cultural events that create connection while also addressing critical community issues (e.g., heat resiliency).
Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC): CSNDC leads a project in Dorchester to improve and activate a vacant lot currently owned by the City of Boston, located on Wentworth Street. Along with neighborhood youth, CSNDC hosted clean-up days, pop-up events, and created a community garden and public art. CSNDC and its partners are working with the City to design and develop the space as a permanent greenspace for social connection.
EASTIE Coalition: The EASTIE Coalition activates Central Square Park in the heart of East Boston, with young people taking a lead to celebrate the park and neighborhood culture through social programming. A local artist helped the group create a welcoming intergenerational environment in the park by offering art workshops, music, and other performances.
Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC): MPCD focuses on two central parcels of land on Warren Street in Roxbury’s Grove Hall neighborhood. Although the site has been vacant for decades, it has a long history that can be traced back through the period of urban renewal and corresponding community activism, rooted in a fight for racial justice and community agency. MPDC and a youth activation team work closely with a well-known local artist on the Sunflower Project and other close partners to improve the public space and bring residents together through their intergenerational events.
Photo credits: Lee-Daniel Tran Photography, Lightchaser Photography