Market Street Competition
How can interventions from radical public seating to long-term tenating strategies for economic development
transform San Francisco’s Market Street to a vibrant, bustling, welcoming core of the city.
Our Philosophy
Public Life
We believe that cities are and will remain the dynamic core of our society, with public and social spaces playing a fundamental role in supporting communities. We understand the public realm as a composite of the physical and experiential.
People + Place
Place is rooted in the cultural and ecological specificity of each location. We are not interested in just applying conventional best practices. We are interested in developing best practices that work with the unique opportunities – and the unique voices – of a place. Details matter.
Market Street
An urban street is many things—or more precisely, a platform for the interaction of many things: movement, identity, commerce, and public life. Market Street serves as the grand boulevard of the Bay Area and an identity-defining public space at the heart of Downtown San Francisco. It is a form-giving axis. We believe Market Street can be a place to move and meet, learn and create, discover and delight.
Market Street Reimagined Competition
The Market Street Reimagined Competition – organized by the Mayors Office, Urban Land Institute and the Civic Joy Fund – is an ideas competition for new urban possibilities to reinvigorate a 2 mile stretch of Market Street from Van Ness to the Ferry Building.
The competition brief’s aim was to promote civic pride and attract visitors and businesses, particularly responding to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, remote work, and other cultural changes.
“This is a time to think differently, to escape the traps embedded in techniques and assumptions of the past, and venture into the speculative possibilities of an urbanism not yet discovered.”
SITELAB submissions
The 4 Mile Bench, an invitation to San Francisco
Submitted by SITELAB urban studio
The Ground Floor Collective
Submitted by SITELAB urban studio and Andy Wang
RECreate Market Street
Submitted by SITELAB urban studio, Diana Lind, Amy Cohen, and Alex Yuen
Our submissions provide three bold visions for Market Street as a place of civic energy, economic resilience, and collective joy—ranging from radical ideas for public seating to ground-floor leasing strategies and long-term visions for economic development and public space:
The 4 Mile Bench, an invitation to San Francisco. Submitted by SITELAB urban studio and a winner of the competition.
The Ground Floor Collective. Submitted by SITELAB urban studio and Andy Wang.
RECreate Market Street. Submitted by SITELAB urban studio, Diana Lind, Amy Cohen, and Alex Yuen.
Location / Date:
San Francisco, CA / 2025
Status:
Awarded
Competition Host:
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie
Competition Co-Sponsors:
The Urban Land Institute San Francisco (ULI SF) and the Civic Joy Fund
Competition Jury:
Po Bronson, IndieBio / SOSV; Candace Damon, HR&A Advisors; Alma Du Solier, Hood Design Studios; Jony Ive, LoveFrom; Alicia John-Baptiste, City and County of San Francisco; John King, Urban Design Critic, formerly San Francisco Chronicle; Becca Prowda, Community Leader & First Lady of San Francisco; Janette Sadik-Khan, Bloomberg Associates; Stanley Saitowitz, Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects Inc; Harriet Tregoning, New Urban Mobility Alliance; Norman Foster, Founder & Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners
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