A well thought out, inclusive design review process is nothing new for Philadelphia. Look back to the early 2000s, when Philadelphians demanded more of a voice in big projects that would change the landscape, riverfront, and daily use of the city. The Civic Vision for the Central Delaware changed planning history in Philadelphia through a public planning process that was citizen-driven, transparent and informed by best practices; engaging thousands in imagining the future of a waterfront. The proposed arena would similarly change the landscape and daily use of our city. The Civic Design Studio at Drexel’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation is trying to foster better understanding and dialog to help understand how this big project would impact our daily lives around some issues we all care about like our neighborhood life & connectivity, commuting, quality of life, and how could the arena look & feel.

On October 24, 2024, Drexel’s Lindy institute Civic Design Studio put forth the following principles with the intention of helping Philadelphians analyze the urban design impact of the arena on the future of East Market Street and our city. Read more about these principles below.

Principles to consider as Philadelphia's City Council vets the Sixers arena proposal 

Principle 1

Create a world-class transit hub that attracts city and suburban riders, convinces drivers to leave their cars at home, enhances daily use, and exceeds the goals of 40% of attendees arriving via public transit.

Jefferson Station is an incredible asset where all our transit lines come together. Can the arena be designed to allow for a truly grand civic space with a gracious Market Street entry, creating a sense of arrival into a beautiful, well-lit, active station that incentivizes transit use? We need only look to New York’s Penn Station and Madison Square Garden as a cautionary tale. Philadelphia must get this gateway right as part of the arena design.

Principle 2

Connect the arena to the rest of the city with great public spaces that rival Reading Terminal Market, the Grand Court at Wanamaker’s, and the waiting room at 30th Street Station.

Imagine the ground floor of the arena as a great public space that stretches from Market to Filbert Streets and beyond: capturing the energy of Reading Terminal Market and connecting with Chinatown to the north. It will be critical to ensure that this civic space remains truly active and public on nongame days, and not fall prey to the fate of other public buildings with deadening interior spaces.

Principle 3

Design a great civic building on par with City Hall, Reading Terminal, and the PSFS building.

The arena must set the tone for the character and quality of design on Market East, using materials of substance and lasting consequence. Allowing the inside to be more visible to the street, incorporating public art worthy of the city’s heritage, and designing gathering spaces both inside and outside that serve as everyday great civic rooms could help to create a sense of place and a new civic landmark.

Principle 4

Be a good neighbor by ensuring the building can attract new development to East Market Street and positively reach out to adjoining neighborhoods.

The proposed arena design will be able to have signage with advertising up to 10 times larger than what Market Street currently allows. Will Times Square-scale signage and brightness levels contribute to a lively mixed-use district that attracts residents? And if we can successfully create a mixed-use community on Market, how can we work in parallel to apply zoning and historic preservation protections to Chinatown to support thoughtful cultural preservation and mitigate displacement?

Principle 5

Contribute to economic vibrancy and the life of Market Street and adjacent neighborhoods.

We must ensure the arena is designed to serve as a civic gateway to Chinatown, and not turn its back on that great neighborhood. Could the design create a new gateway through an open mid-block lot on Arch Street? Could this area provide new green space and a potential market space owned and programmed by community leaders? City leaders can ensure nearby parcels targeted for redevelopment create a 24-hour community that supports public life so that the arena is not an island of intermittent activity. Included with this should be developing a vision for Market East that places the arena in the context of a vibrant city street connecting seamlessly with the historic district and the vitality along the central Delaware riverfront.

Because the legislative process is on a fast track, our goal is to provide you with some tools to better inform your questions to council members and local leaders. We believe that this project represents an opportunity to codify a world-class civic design into law. If we’re successful, this development will be a true civic asset that future generations can be proud of. Let’s seize this moment to get East Market Street right.

We will continue to work on fleshing these out with case studies, promising practices, and other useful tools for the public to understand the potential urban design impact of the arena on economic development, transportation, sense of place, and quality of life. For each we will do the following:

• Offer examples of cities that have successfully implemented large scale civic buildings (stations, arenas, convention centers) in urban areas;

• Provide information and visuals that explain the impact of the proposed arena;

• Use the details from each principle to ask what we feel are the important questions for our public officials, local leaders and the developers.