What is Placemaking?

Placemaking is both a philosophy and a practical process for transforming public spaces. It is centred on observing, listening to, and asking questions of the people who live, work and enjoy a space. This helps planners, developers and communities to understand the needs and aspirations people have for the space.

Placemaking is how an area becomes an identifiable place that is valued by its users. It is where local communities, businesses and stakeholders work in partnership to create places with a distinct 'DNA'. It is a catalyst to stimulate local economies, attract investment and build the capacity of local communities. Most importantly, placemaking is about creating places that bring people together and create a human connection to a place.

How is Placemaking achieved?

The current practice of delivering place outcomes is through master planning and urban design frameworks – however, this generally falls short of the mark. While some of the most successful precincts in the world have evolved organically over many years to deliver place outcomes, increasingly, the best precincts are those that have robust place management frameworks.

Management frameworks

New place management frameworks are emerging, which rely on meaningful partnerships being forged by councils with the community. This model promotes a new paradigm in the role of council, by aiming to foster a sense and spirit of 'co- creation' – where the purpose and function of councils move from 'council does' to 'council enables and assists'.

Proponents of the model argue that the most effective way for local governments to be placemakers is to allow it to happen, rather than making it happen themselves. They use the analogy of local governments helping to deliver the ‘hardware’ of a place, while the community helps to upgrade the ‘software’ of a place.

Legal instruments

Various legal instruments can be used to support a place management structure. These include:

• community and strata schemes;
• building management statements;
• ground leases and covenants on title; and
• a variety of contractual arrangements.

However, such instruments tend to focus on the management and maintenance of the built form, as well as providing a mechanism for cost sharing. They do not usually provide for effective stewardship of a place, or promote place activation.

Management partnerships

For placemaking objectives to be achieved, there needs to be a broader focus on how people use and experience a place. What is needed is a 'management partnership'. The role of a Management Partnership is to take carriage of the vision for the place, as well as the strategies and actions needed to deliver place outcomes. The outcomes should promote economic activity, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

New legal structures are emerging, which embrace the concept and philosophy of a Management Partnership. How well these structures are devised, accepted and implemented will have a significant bearing on how well cities unlock the potential of their public assets – to create liveable and sustainable cities for the future.

If you are interested in learning more about placemaking, please reach out to our team for a discussion.

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