Placemaking:

What If
We Built Our
Cities
Around
Places?

A Placemaking Primer
 Public space is for negotiating the interface between our homes,
our businesses, our institutions, and the broader world. Public
space is how we get to work, how we do our errands, and how
we get back home. Public space is where nearly half of violent
crimes happen. Public space is where policing ensures safety for

What is Placemaking? some but not others. Public space is for buying and selling, or for
meeting, playing, and bumping into one another. Public space
is for conveying our outrage and our highest aspirations, as
Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and
well as for laying the most mundane utilities and infrastructure.
reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. And when we let it, public space can be a medium for creativity,
Strengthening the connection between people and the expression, and experimentation.
places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative
process by which we can shape our public realm in order
Equity Architecture & Design
to maximize shared value. More than just promoting
Innovation &
better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative
Entrepreneurship Governance
patterns of use, paying particular attention to the
physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place Sustainability
and support its ongoing evolution. Main Streets Place & Resilience

Arts & Culture Local Food

Public Space at the Crossroads

Public Streets &
Public space is inherently multidimensional. Successful and Health Transportation
genuine public spaces are used by many different people for
many different purposes at many different times of the day and
In short, public space is where so many tragedies and triumphs
the year. Because public spaces harbor so many uses and users—
of the commons play out. And that’s why getting it right matters.
or fail to do so—they are also where a staggering cross-section of
The ten issue areas where we believe placemaking can have
local and global issues converge.
the most transformative impact are: equity & inclusion; streets
as places; architecture of place; innovation hubs; market
cities; place governance; sustainability & resilience; rural
communities; creative placemaking; and health.

Cities have the capability of providing something

for everybody, only because, and only when, they
are created by everybody
—Jane Jacobs

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 Power of 10+
How Cities Transform through Placemaking
To be successful, cities need destinations. They need destinations
that give an identity and image to their communities, and that
help attract new residents, businesses, and investment. But they
also need strong community destinations that attract people.
A destination might be a downtown square, a main street, a
waterfront, a park, or a museum. Cities of all sizes should have at
least 10 destinations where people want to be. What makes each
destination successful is that it has multiple places within it. For
example, a square needs at least 10 places: a café, a children’s
play area, a place to read the paper or drink a cup of coffee, a
place to also sit, somewhere to meet friends, etc. Within each of
the places, there should be at least 10 things to do. Cumulatively,
these activities, places and destinations are what make a great
city. We call this big idea the “Power of 10+.”

Place
10+ things to do
(layered to create synergy)

City/Region Destination
10+ major destinations 10+ places in each

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 ESS
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Most great places, whether a grand downtown plaza or humble ER A

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neighborhood park, share four key attributes:

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1. They are accessible and well connected to other important CO NTIN UI
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places in the area.

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2. They are comfortable and project a good image.

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3. They attract people to participate in activities there.

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gather and visit again and again.

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Cities fail and succeed at
the scale of human interaction

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 Access & Linkages Comfort & Image

You can easily judge the accessibility A space that is comfortable and looks
of a place by noting its connections to inviting is likely to be successful. A
the surroundings, including the visual sense of comfort includes perceptions
links. A great public space is easy about safety, cleanliness, and the
to get to, easy to enter, and easy to availability of places to sit. A lack of
navigate. It is arranged so that you can seating is the surprising downfall of
see most of what is going on there, both from a distance and up many otherwise good places. People are drawn to places that
close. The edges of a public space also play an important role in give them a choice of places to sit, so they can be either in or out
making it accessible. A row of shops along a street, for instance, of the sun at various times of day or year.
is more interesting and generally safer to walk along than a blank
wall or an empty lot. Accessible spaces can be conveniently Questions to consider about Comfort & Image:
reached by foot and, ideally, public transit, and they have high
parking turnover. • Does the place make a good first impression?

• Are there as many women as men?

Questions to consider about Access & Linkages:
• Are there enough places to sit? Are seats conveniently located?
Do people have a choice of places to sit, either in the sun or
• Can you see the space from a distance? Is its interior visible shade?
from the outside?
• Are spaces clean and free of litter? Who is responsible for
• Is there a good connection between this place and adjacent maintenance?
buildings? Or, is it surrounded by blank walls, surface parking
lots, windowless buildings, or any other elements that • Does the area feel safe? Are there security personnel present?
discourage people from entering the space? If so, what do these people do? When are they on duty?
• Do occupants of adjacent buildings use the space? • Are people taking pictures? Are there many photo opportunities
available?
• Can people easily walk there? Or are they intimidated by heavy
traffic or bleak streetscapes? • Do vehicles dominate pedestrian use of the space, or prevent
them from easily getting to the space?
• Do sidewalks lead to and from the adjacent areas?

• Does the space function well for people with disabilities and
other special needs?

• Do the paths throughout the space take people where they

actually want to go?

• Can people use a variety of transportation options—bus,

train, car, and bicycle—to reach the place?

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 Uses & Activities Sociability

A range of activities are the This is the most important quality

fundamental building blocks of a for a place to achieve—and the most
great place. Having something to difficult. When a place becomes
do gives people a reason to come a favorite spot for people to meet
(and return) to a place. When there friends, greet their neighbors, and feel
is nothing interesting to do, a space
comfortable interacting with strangers,
will sit empty. That’s the best measure that something is wrong.
then you are well on your way to having a great place.
A carefully chosen range of activities will help a place attract a
variety of people at different times of the day. A playground will Questions to consider about Sociability:
draw young kids during the day, while basketball courts draw
older kids after school, and concerts bring in everyone during the • Is this a place where you would choose to meet your friends?
evening. Are others meeting friends here?

• Are people in groups? Are they talking with one another? Do

Questions to consider about Uses & Activities: they talk to people in other groups?

• Do people seem to know each other by face or by name?

• Are people using the space, or is it empty?
• Do people bring their friends and relatives to see the place? Do
• Is it used by people of different ages?
they point to its features with pride?
• How many different types of activities are occurring at one
• Are people smiling? Do people make regular eye contact with
time—people walking, eating, playing baseball, chess, relaxing,
each other?
reading?
• Do many people use the place frequently?
• Which parts of the space are used and which are not?
• Does the mix of ages and ethnic groups generally reflect the
• Is there a management presence, or can you identify anyone in
community at large?
charge of the space?
• Do people tend to pick up litter when they see it?

What attracts people most, it would appear,

is other people.
— William “Holly” Whyte

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 Benefits of
Builds & Supports an
Great Places Fosters Social Interaction
Equitable Local Economy • Improves sociability
• More cultural exposure, interaction
• Small-scale entrepreneurship
• Draws a diverse population
• Economic development
• More women, elderly, children
• Higher real estate values
• Greater ethnic/cultural pluralism
• Local ownership, local value
• Encourages community creativity
• More desirable jobs
• Greater tax revenue
• Less need for municipal services RENEWS
Builds & BRINGS
DOWNTOWNS
Supports an& TOGETHER
Fosters Social
NEIGHBORHOODS
Equitable DIVERSE PEOPLE
Interaction
Local Economy
Nurtures & Defines Sense
Promotes Health of Community
• Increased physical activity • Greater community organization
• Access to fresh food PROVIDES Nurtures & • Sense of pride and volunteerism
CREATES ACTIVE
•
•
Greater security
Greater social inclusion
Promotes
ECONOMIC
Health
Place Defines
PUBLIC SPACE
Sense of
• Perpetuation of integrity and
OPPORTUNITY values
• Enhanced environmental health
Community
• Less need for municipal control
• Self-managing

Creates
Promotes Sense LINKS URBAN
PROMOTES Improved
of Comfort & RURAL
Promotes Sense of Comfort PUBLIC HEALTH Accessibility Creates Improved Accessibility
• Visually pleasing ECONOMIES • More walkable
• Generally stimulating • Safe for pedestrians and bicyclists
• Sense of belonging • Compatible with public transit
• Greater security • Reduces need for cars and parking
• Better environmental quality • More efficient use of time and money
• Feeling of freedom • Greater connections between uses

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 Underlying Ideas

1 The Community is The Expert

2 Create a Place, Not a Design

3 Look for Partners

11 Principles for 4 They Always Say “It Can’t Be Done.”

Creating Great
Community Places Planning & Outreach Techniques

5 Have a Vision
Effective public spaces are extremely difficult to
accomplish because their complexity is rarely understood. 6 You Can See a Lot Just By Observing
As William (Holly) Whyte said, “It’s hard to design a space
that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how
often this has been accomplished.”
Translating Ideas into Action

PPS has identified 11 key principles for transforming public

spaces into vibrant community places, whether they are parks, 7 Form Supports Function
plazas, public squares, streets, sidewalks, or the myriad other
outdoor and indoor spaces that have public uses in common. 8 Triangulate
These principles are:
9 Experiment: Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper

Implementation

10 Money Is Not The Issue

It takes a place to create a community and

11 You Are Never Finished
a community to create a place

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 1 The community is the expert 4 They always say “It can’t be done.”
The important starting point in developing a concept for any One of Yogi Berra’s great sayings is “If they say it can’t be done,
public space is to identify the talents and assets within the it doesn’t always work out that way,” and we have found it to be
community. In any community there are people who can provide appropriate for our work as well. Creating good public spaces
historical perspective, valuable insights into how the area is inevitably about encountering obstacles, because no one in
functions, and an understanding of critical issues. Tapping this either the public or private sectors has the job or responsibility
information at the beginning of the process will help to create to “create places.” For example, professionals such as traffic
a sense of community ownership in the project that can be of engineers, transit operators, urban planners and architects
great benefit to both the project sponsor and the community. all have narrow definitions of their job – facilitating traffic
or making trains run on time or creating long term schemes
for building cities or designing buildings. Their job, evident in
2 Create a place, not a design most cities, is not to create “places.” Starting with small scale
community-nurturing improvements can demonstrate the
To make an under-performing space into a vital “place,”
importance of “places” and help to overcome obstacles.
physical elements must be introduced that would make
people welcome and comfortable, such as seating and new
landscaping, and also through “management” changes in the 5 You can see a lot just by observing
pedestrian circulation pattern and by developing more effective
relationships between the surrounding retail and the activities We can all learn a great deal from the successes and failures of
going on in the public spaces. The goal is to create a place others. By looking at how people use public spaces and finding
that has both a strong sense of community and a comfortable out what they like and don’t like about them, it is possible to
image, as well as a setting and activities and uses that assess what makes them work. Through these observations,
collectively add up to something more than the sum of its often it becomes clear what kinds of activities are missing, and
simple parts. This is easy to say, but difficult to accomplish. what might be incorporated. And when the spaces are built,
continuing to observe them will teach us even more about how
they evolve and can be managed over time.
3 Look for partners
Partners are critical to the future success and image of a
public space improvement project. Whether you seek partners
at the start to plan for the project, or brainstorm and develop
scenarios with a dozen partners who might participate in
the future, these collaborations are invaluable in providing
support and getting a project off the ground. They can be local
institutions, museums, schools, and others.

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 6 Have a vision 9 Experiment: Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper
The vision needs to come out of each individual community; The complexity of public spaces is such that you cannot expect
however, essential to a vision for any public space is an idea of to do everything right initially. The best spaces experiment with
what kinds of activities might be happening in the space, a vision short term improvements that can be tested and refined over
that the space should be comfortable and have a good image, many years! Elements such as seating, outdoor cafes, public
and that it should be an important place where people want to art, striping of crosswalks and pedestrian havens, community
be. It should instill a sense of pride in the people who live and gardens and murals are examples of improvements that can be
work in the surrounding area. accomplished in a short time.

7 Form supports function 10 Money is not the issue

The input from the community and potential partners, This statement can apply in a number of ways. For example,
the understanding of how other spaces function, the once you’ve put in the basic infrastructure of the public
experimentation, and overcoming the obstacles and naysayers spaces, the elements that are added that will make it work (e.g.,
provides the concept for the space. Although design is vendors, cafes, flowers and seating) will not be expensive. In
important, these other elements tell you what “form” you need to addition, if the community and other partners are involved in
accomplish the future vision for the space. programming and other activities, this can also reduce costs.
More important is that by following these steps, people will have
so much enthusiasm for the project that the cost is viewed
8 Triangulate much more broadly and consequently as not significant when
compared with the benefits.
“Triangulation is the process by which some external stimulus
provides a linkage between people and prompts strangers to talk
to other strangers as if they knew each other” (Holly Whyte). In a
11 You are never finished
public space, the choice and arrangement of different elements in
relation to each other can put the triangulation process in motion By nature good public spaces that respond to the needs, the
(or not). For example, if a bench, a wastebasket and a telephone opinions and the ongoing changes of the community require
are placed with no connection to each other, each may receive a attention. Amenities wear out, needs change and other things
very limited use, but when they are arranged together along with happen in an urban environment. Being open to the need for
other amenities such as a coffee cart, they will naturally bring change and having the management flexibility to enact that
people together (or triangulate!). On a broader level, if a children’s change is what builds great public spaces and great cities
reading room in a new library is located so that it is next to a and towns.
children’s playground in a park and a food kiosk is added, more
activity will occur than if these facilities were located separately.

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 Placemaking Process Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper (LQC)
Placemaking is both a process and a philosophy. It is centered
around observing, listening to, and asking questions of the A low-cost, high-impact incremental framework for improving
people who live, work, and play in a particular space in order public spaces in short order that capitalizes on the creative
to understand their needs and aspirations for that space and energy of the community to efficiently generate new uses and
for their community as a whole. Working with the community revenue for places in transition.
to create a vision around the places they view as important to
community life and to their daily experience is key to building
a strategy for implementation. Beginning with short term, LQC experiments range in scale and impact.
experimental improvements can immediately bring benefits to From small neighborhood amenities and art to large
public spaces and the people who use them and inform longer downtown temporary structures and events.
term improvements over time.

Place Led, Community-Based Process

Define Place and Stakeholder Roles

Identify Stakeholders advise/suggest
bring additional
resources
Evaluate Space and
implement & maintain
Identify Issues

Expert Roles
inform
Place Vision
facilitate
design & Implement

Short Term Experiments

and Management

Ongoing Reevaluation and

Long Term Improvements

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 Towards a
Place-Led Future
Through our own placemaking work, we’ve found that public Evolution of Development
space projects and the governance structures that produce
them tend to fall into one of four types of development along a
spectrum.

Community Benefits
1 Project-driven spaces often emerge from top-down,
4 Place-Led
bureaucratic leadership, which value on-time, under-
budget delivery above all else. Project-driven processes
generally lead to places that follow a general protocol
3 Place-Sensitive
without any consideration for local needs or desires.

2 Discipline-led projects may be of higher value and more 2 Discipline-Led

photogenic, but their reliance on the singular vision of
design professionals and other disciplinary silos often 1 Project-Driven
makes for spaces that do not function terribly well as
public gathering places.

3 The place-sensitive approach to projects, which we see

emerging among some design professionals, makes a
Old Thinking New Thinking
concerted effort to gather community input—but the
process is still led by designers and architects.

4 A truly place-led approach relies not on community

input, but on a unified focus on place outcomes built
on community engagement. A place-led process turns
proximity into purpose, and the planning and management
of shared public spaces into a group activity that builds
social capital and shared values. Local participants in this
process feel invested in the resulting public space, and are
more likely to serve as its stewards. When you focus on place,
you do everything differently

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 Everyone has the right to live in a great place.
More importantly, everyone has the right to
contribute to making the place where they
already live great.
— Fred Kent

Founded in 1975, Project for Public Spaces has brought some

of the most successful public places in the world to life. We put
community participation at the center of everything we do, from
placemaking partnerships with corporations and foundations
to our workshops, trainings, conferences, and more. Our
interdisciplinary team has helped over 3,500 communities in 52
countries create inclusive places that change our society for the
better. Together, we can build a world where every public space
is community-powered. Learn more at PPS.org.

© 2022 Project for Public Spaces, Inc.

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