Innovation Oakland Streetscape Pilot

Innovation Oakland is a community-wide infrastructure initiative of the Oakland Business Improvement District that seeks to enliven the neighborhood and generate economic activity via art and technology-based projects.

The design team, led by Arup, was appointed in 2011. Billings Jackson Design provided industrial design; Arup provided urban planning, information and wayfinding design and civil and structural engineering; and architectural and landscape design came from EDGE Studio.

The first planned installation in Spring 2013 was located at the University-owned Forbes-Bouquet Plaza. It comprised a series of elements including state-of-the-art digital panels to be used for both visual art and community information, new "smart" light poles with sound capability and WiFi, a sustainable bio-retention planting bed and new benches and landscaping.

Together, the elements are designed to celebrate Oakland as the home of innovative new technology, attracting visitors to the city and especially to the commercial district.