Placemaking
Successful public spaces do not come from expensive cultural centres, or large-scale buildings that put grandiose design before public spaces that people use and enjoy.
Fred Kent, of PPS, has said that before the first sketch is made on any project large or small, designers, clients and the community as a whole need to ask basic questions about its impact:
1. How will it generate vibrant public life?
2. How will it honour its context in the community?
3. How will it create a community place and draw on local assets (cultural, ecological, historical, social, and economic)?
4. How will it delight people, bring them together and enhance their lives?
He goes on to note: 'The challenge in creating great cities for the future is enormous, yet critically important. Our attention needs to be focused on many levels of urban life: livability, local economies, community health, sustainability, civic engagement, and local self reliance. Good architecture and design, broadly defined, must be at the heart of all these efforts. When all of these goals are aligned, we’ll see a world-changing movement to repair the environment and improve living conditions for everyone living upon it.' www.pps.org.
