Improving the Hospital District is a shared priority of the Smiley Administration and Southside community members. The mission of this planning process is to build upon years of community conversations to reimagine how underutilized land in the Hospital District can reconnect the Hospitals with the Southside of Providence, unlock community development and economic opportunity, and improve public and environmental health.
In March, 2025, the City and the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) hosted a series of public and key stakeholder meetings with neighborhood leaders, institutions, youth, public agencies, and the development community to envision more productive uses of the Hospital District’s surface parking lots and discuss the feasibility of various implementation strategies. These meetings and the report that emerges from them aim to guide future conversations between the City, southside neighbors, institutions, and other stakeholders about how the District can be developed to benefit all.
A final report on the process will be published in Spring 2025. See the wrap up presentation below that was given at the March 13, 2025 community meeting:
CNU Presentation 3/13/25
Have any questions or comments? Please submit them via this form below or contact Tim Shea, DPD’s Community Planning Manager, at tshea@providenceri.gov
What is CNU? CNU is a member-based nonprofit organization of architects, urban designers and planners that champions better design of cities and towns to improve lives and strengthen communities for all. The technical support accompanying this Legacy Project, provided by DPZ Co-Design, was awarded to the City of Providence as part of the ramp up to CNU hosting their annual congress in Providence from June 11-14, 2025.