What is the Civic Center Initiative?

The Civic Center Initiative is a collaborative effort to breathe new life into the City’s central civic spaces, changing how people engage with the place and with each other so that everyone can feel welcome and experience the best of San Francisco every day. You can see what’s currently happening in the space on the CCI’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Started in 2017, the Initiative focuses on three linked public spaces:
Civic Center Plaza, UN Plaza, and Fulton Street between the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Main Public Library.

Diverse communities – from low-income Tenderloin families and unhoused adults to technology employees and new residents to visitors of cultural and civic institutions from around the City, the region, and the world – may overlap in Civic Center public spaces, but they don’t necessarily connect. These spaces were designed to inspire awe and serve as a unified gathering place. However, in recent decades, with the exception of when there are large-scale events, many view them as alienating places to hurry through. The Initiative is transforming the Civic Center public spaces so that the connection and sense of pride San Franciscans feel at these large civic events become an everyday experience.

Major capital investments in Civic Center Plaza and the Civic Center Public Realm Plan, a long-range planning and design process are now underway, and will build on the strategies described on this page, so that the Civic Center can ultimately become a powerful symbol of San Francisco’s compassionate values and a model for public spaces around the world.


Led by the City of San Francisco in partnership with neighbors, community organizations, and cultural institutions, the Initiative brings together the best of San Francisco’s creative, philanthropic, and intellectual resources to implement this vision. We are pursuing the following four strategies:

Create daily attractions that spark curiosity and connection

The Civic Center Initiative’s most exciting recent destinations are the Civic Center Plaza Cafe and the Helen Diller Civic Center Playgrounds, which features two cutting-edge creative play spaces by day and hosts interactive lighting installations at night. Other unique San Francisco-style attractions in Civic Center include: Asian Art Museum’s dragon-themed outdoor art gallery on Fulton Street, the Heart of the City Farmer’s Market and Off the Grid food truck markets.

Improve cleanliness and safety so all feel welcome

Enhanced City collaboration and innovative workforce development partnerships are making Civic Center public spaces cleaner and safer for everyone.

Civic Center CBD (CCCBD) oversees the larger Civic Center area, which includes Civic Center Plaza, Fulton Street and UN Plaza. The CCCBD Clean Team provides services 7 days a week and addresses issues like litter, graffiti and general upkeep. The CCCBD Community Ambassadors also provide assistance 7 days a week, assisting the public in navigating the area with a welcoming and informed presence. The CCCBD also oversees the Civic Center Garage Greeter and Night Ambassadors.

Downtown Streets Team engages a team of unhoused individuals – many from the immediate area – to participate in light cleaning as part of a workforce re-entry program. Downtown Streets Team also offers free games and activities through KARTMA, a mobile game-lending cart. Social services organizations such as Lava Mae and Project Homeless Connect also continue to provide targeted services for unhoused individuals.

Create a cohesive identity that becomes a source of local pride

The Initiative aims to bring improved stewardship and programming to all three of the public spaces connecting Market Street to City Hall, so that this critical civic spine is a welcoming, inclusive gathering place for all.

Build a strong team to steward the Civic Center Public Spaces

A dedicated group of City agencies is working collaboratively with neighborhood, cultural, civic, educational and business leaders to activate and care for Civic Center public spaces now, and to develop a strategy to ensure that the area has the staffing and funding needed to expand services and amenities in the future.

A core feature of the Initiative is a proactively inclusive approach. Attractions and activities are designed to engage all kinds of people and to foster connections among them. The Pit Stop toilets and tables and chairs are available to everyone. Job creation for those with barriers to employment is a priority, and engagement with diverse neighborhood stakeholders is pursued in the planning and implementation of the Initiative.

Taking incremental steps, the Civic Center Initiative is making near-term improvements while working toward a long-range vision. Major capital investments in Civic Center Plaza and the Civic Center Public Realm Plan, a long-range planning and design process are now underway, and will build on the strategies described above so that the Civic Center can ultimately become a powerful symbol of San Francisco’s compassionate values and a model for public spaces around the world.

Get Involved

If you are interested in sponsoring events in Civic Center please contact the Program Manager, Marlo Sandler, at sandler@sfciviccenter.org or 415-658-7979 (Civic Center Community Benefit District). Also please see our Sponsorship Page.


Public Realm Plan & CCI Action Plan

The Civic Center Public Realm Plan is a process that is now underway and will create a long-term vision for improvements to Civic Center’s plazas, streets, and other public spaces. The plan will build on the Civic Center Initiative’s current efforts and major new investments such as the cafe kiosk (Assembly) and Helen Diller Civic Center Playgrounds, which are building momentum for the plan’s future capital investment and sustainable management plan. See more at civiccentersf.org.

Partners

Partners are key in making the Civic Center Initiative successful and include stakeholders from a cross-section of City departments, cultural and educational institutions, neighborhood community-based organizations, Civic Center businesses, and philanthropic and technical institutions. Partners are involved in various aspects from the daily upkeep of the area, to financial support, to promotion, event assistance, and event participation.


Core City Departments

Community Challenge Grants; City Administrator; Department of Public Health; Grants for the Arts; Mayor’s Office; Office of Economic and Workforce Development; Planning Department; Public Library; Public Works; Recreation and Parks Department; Real Estate Division; San Francisco Arts Commission; San Francisco Police Department

Non-Profit and Community Organizations

All the Way Live Foundation; Civic Center CBD; Downtown Streets Team; Heart of the City Farmers’ Market; Tenderloin CBD; Urban Alchemy

Businesses

Broadway SF; Dolby Laboratories; Emerald Fund; Off the Grid; Redwood Credit Union; Rubicon Point Partners; Stamen Design

Cultural and Educational Institutions

Alonzo King LINES Ballet; Another Planet Entertainment; Asian Art Museum; Boxcar Theatre; Exploratorium; Illuminate; SF Conservatory of Music; UC Law School

Philanthropic and Technical Assistance Institutions

Helen Diller Family Foundation; John Pritzker Family Fund; Kenneth Rainin Foundation Discretionary Fund; Lendlease; Project for Public Spaces; SF Parks Alliance; Trust for Public Land