A bold new neighborhood is taking shape near San Francisco’s Oracle Park baseball stadium. The 28-acre-mixed used waterfront development called Mission Rock will eventually have more than 1,000 apartments along with office space, commercial space, and an inventive pedestrian-first streetscape design. Integral to the neighborhood’s design are three recently opened outdoor installations that could reinvent what people expect from the city’s public realm.

The installations—called “street rooms”—are miniature parklike features of the streetscape that are cementing Mission Rock’s case for being one of the most pedestrian-friendly urban spaces in America.

Built on former industrial land, the project was developed through a partnership between the San Francisco Giants, the Port of San Francisco, and developer Tishman Speyer. Uniquely, the neighborhood has been designed with pedestrian-first streets that do not allow on-street parking. The new street rooms are designed to give pedestrians more spaces to use along its two main corridors.

“While occasional block parties or closures can facilitate outdoor public........

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