New strategic collaborations with local jurisdictions, thoughtful designers, and the right developers are helping to reimagine the purpose of common space. Ceara O’Leary, AIA, senior designer and project director at the 2017 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award-winning Detroit Collaborative Design Center, and director of the Master of Community Development Program at the University of Detroit Mercy, shares best practices for supporting social connectivity and better individual and large-scale economic futures.