Placemaking capitalizes on a local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote health, happiness, and well-being (Project for Public Spaces)
Participation emphasizes the involvement of the entire community in the process of planning and making places, with an emphasis on historically excluded groups who often do not have the opportunity to participate, including children, youth, ethnically diverse and differently-abled people. Bringing these ideas together emphasizes the development of places that are both inclusive and sustainable. Placemaking with Children and Youth: Participatory Practices for Planning Sustainable Communities is a practical guidebook with co-authors Louise Chawla and Mara Mintzer, that brings these ideas together through methods, case studies, and best practices. Placemaking was the 2019 recipient of the Environmental Design Research Association's Achievement Award and has been reviewed by the following journals and groups: Our recent webinar with the North American Association for Environmental Education also highlights applications of Placemaking approaches.
Placemaking also was featured in three recent blogs for the American Society of Landscape Architects, Professional Practice network:
Part I: More than Climate Strikes, Giving Young People Roles in Community Greening Part II: The Benefits of Including Children in Participatory Placemaking Part III: Getting Started with Participatory Placemaking |
This text is much more than a resource book. It is a book about how we live, learn and play together across generations, how we keep research real and decision-making democratic and how we create sustainable communities for the future.
- Barry Percy-Smith
Just Futures Centre for Child, Youth, Family and Community Research University of Huddersfield, UK |