The first milestone of the Cities in Placemaking programme – Essentials of Placemaking – took place in Amsterdam on 20-22 March 2023 and consisted of a three-day peer-to-peer learning experience to provide a comprehensive introduction to placemaking, its application in the context of urban governance and its implications for long-term systemic change. It was also an opportunity to get to know each other as a team and to align expectations for the long term.
The programme aims to raise awareness and practical knowledge of Placemaking, a comprehensive, flexible and practical approach to creating healthy, inclusive and lovable communities around places. With communities at its core, Placemaking is well equipped to address the complex challenges facing European cities today, such as climate adaptation, intercultural integration, social inequality and many more.
At our launch event, we saw how different cities are using placemaking to improve the quality of life for their communities. For example, some cities use a placemaking approach by involving local communities in their projects, or by using tactical interventions to test new activities or revitalise public spaces.
But what does it mean to fully embrace placemaking as an approach to future development from within a municipal public administration?
Currently, there is no common reference framework to define placemaking from this perspective, nor to guide the strategic implementation of this approach in city-wide governance processes. This is why we have formulated Cities in Placemaking – through a collaborative effort, we aim to achieve a comprehensive and well-rounded learning experience that can be used for the practical implementation of Placemaking at a city-wide level.
In Report #1 of the Cities in Placemaking programme, we summarised all the learning and findings from the first milestone of the programme. Our focus for this milestone was on
- the design of public spaces and how to turn spaces into places
- defining strategies with placemaking at their core
- breaking down the placemaking process and inspiring tools to use
- unravelling different links to placemaking, such as: innovation in public administration, urban health, interculturality, active recreation, urban regeneration, governance.
- analysing the current state of placemaking in the participating cities
Have a look at the report and feel free to share it further!
Many thanks to the whole group that took part in the kick-off meeting in Amsterdam, we had great collaboration together and it was amazing sharing our learnings, challenges and expectations!
