Professional positions with "placemaking in the title" are rare today and really did not exist back in 2010 when I began my career in placemaking in a sweet little downtown in Binghamton, New York. Appointed by then Mayor Matt Ryan as the "youngest commissioner for downtown development" I worked at the University in technology for blind/low vision students by day and then ran a culture center by night called Quarter Yellow at Jungle Science Art Gallery and Laboratories and went on to found The Department of Public Art with Mark Bowers from the Department of Transportation and the late Peg Johnston; which still operates today.
The Field of Placemaking.
Today the field is exploding and professional positions are being created at non-profit neighborhood organizations, municipalities, business districts and universities. Today there are finally jobs with the title, as well as a degree Pratt Institute now offers the first ever degree in placemaking and NYU has classes on creative placemaking. We see the field formalizing and gaining professional recognition. What is placemaking (PM)? PM is a complex sub-field of urban planning, a niche-field of social practice that is now seeing a surge in professional positions and degree programs.
Placemaking is a process and term coined in the 1960s to address our civic and social life; namely how to go from cars to feet in the streets and invest in public space to support qualify of life. The field was born from the evaluation of public spaces and centered around the people of a place, that is, building great social spaces as a strategy for quality of life. The average person does not understand their own power and access, in particular, to public spaces. No matter what our status is, public parks belong to the public.
That's you! Our parks have incredible potential to be the center of social life and a breeding ground for solving social issues simply through human connection. The misunderstandings around public spaces is a global issue. The issue is that our public spaces sit underutilized given that those who govern, fund and program them are not the end user.
It is like planning a family reunion for a family you do not know.
Think of the issues that arise from that. You might have a venue, music and food but you will miss out on authentic identity and end up with misrepresentation. Apply this analogy to our parks. Because of the disconnect between the people and government, we see over-designed parks lacking bathrooms, electricity, lighting and other basic amenities to function as well as programming that is not engaging or reflective of the community. A lack of amenities and programming impacts dwelling times; or how long we enjoy the space. Therefore, our parks sit empty. The field of placemaking turns to the residents who regularly use the park and positions them as the expert. The best placemakers rely on residents, or what we call the community champions, and our job is to listen, connect and facilitate their vision.
Make sense?
Placemaking is also a collection of resources that support a people-driven process to exacerbate the functionality and joy of public life. Projects are site-specific and unique to the town/city where it takes place.
Placemaking in Michigan is different than in Florida. Well, the places and people are different but the concepts are the same. We all want cities that are vibrant, alive and walkable, bikeable; that offer "the clustering of complimenting uses within a compact setting." (The Jaxson). Today municipalities are investing in professionals to facilitate the process of identifying the champions and having them lead in the conversations and development of public life. Placemaking is not new. Jane Jacobs and William Whyte forged the movement in the mid 1900's in America but we have been creating places that meet our social and biological needs since the beginning of humanity. In the 1990's Fred Kent coined the term.
With that, there are traditionally four “types” : standard, tactical (urbanism), strategic and creative. I am a creative placemaking specialist (CPS). I believe there is no urban problem a group of artists can’t solve. I strongly believe in the power of creativity and imagination as the key to vibrancy and active, healthy cities. Additionally, the age-old issue of a lack of venues and spaces for our artists to exhibit and gather in, I like to position our public spaces as a solution. Parks become concert venues and galleries.
Our sidewalks, streets, parks, and alleys or the spaces in between is the focus and the vision is to start small with temporary activations. This is called incremental development.
The vision is to create catalytic moments in the form of pop-ups and to always be a pilot version in order to create room for learning and what we refer to as "failing forward". In working with residents, the intention is to create room for exploration which allows for the community to experiment and see what really works.
Small steps can lead to big change. Thank you for reading this far and please, if there are topics you want to hear more about email KadyYellow@gmail.com
References:
Ann Markusen coined the term “creative placemaking” to describe a collaborative process where multiple stakeholders such as public, private, not-for-profit, and community sector actors strategically reshape their physical and social worlds through art and cultural practices in ways that are primarily economically productive.
* A road diet is a tool to reallocate the existing roadway space to fit traffic conditions and expected road users. Cities around the country have implemented road diets to adapt to changing transportation trends and to encourage a variety of transportation options on a particular street. (Corvallis Oregon)
**Asset Based Community Development builds on the assets that are found in the community and mobilizes individuals, associations, and institutions to come together to realise and develop their strengths. This makes it different to a Deficit Based approach that focuses on identifying and servicing needs. From the start an Asset Based approach spends time identifying the assets of individuals, associations and institutions that form the community. (Nurture Development)
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