"When you focus on place, you do everything differently." - Project for Public Spaces
What is Placemaking?
“Placemaking” is an overarching idea and a hands-on tool for improving a neighbourhood, city, or region. It has the potential to be one of the most transformative ideas of this century. (Project for Public Spaces, Nov 4, 2012).
Creative placemaking is an evolving field of practice that intentionally leverages the power of the arts, culture and creativity to serve a community’s interest while driving a broader agenda for change, growth and transformation in a way that also builds character and quality of place. Creative placemaking can be an ambitious process that requires out-of-the-box thinking, unique partnerships and a collaborative approach to development (Toronto Artscape, 2012)
In Transforming a Downtown into an Urban Living Room, Craig Curtis states “Recreation Directors and Senior Staff in small and medium sized communities face unique challenges in juggling their many roles and responsibilities in bringing quality to life via their services, programs, facilities and events within recreation, parks, sport, arts, culture and heritage settings” (Curtis, 2012).
Locally, because the Town of Golden is a Resort Municipality, there is access to the Resort Municipality Infrastructure funds. There is a plan in place to spend the ~$2.5M for a current 5 year period (2012-16). More information on these projects can be found here:
Creative placemaking is an evolving field of practice that intentionally leverages the power of the arts, culture and creativity to serve a community’s interest while driving a broader agenda for change, growth and transformation in a way that also builds character and quality of place. Creative placemaking can be an ambitious process that requires out-of-the-box thinking, unique partnerships and a collaborative approach to development (Toronto Artscape, 2012)
In Transforming a Downtown into an Urban Living Room, Craig Curtis states “Recreation Directors and Senior Staff in small and medium sized communities face unique challenges in juggling their many roles and responsibilities in bringing quality to life via their services, programs, facilities and events within recreation, parks, sport, arts, culture and heritage settings” (Curtis, 2012).
Locally, because the Town of Golden is a Resort Municipality, there is access to the Resort Municipality Infrastructure funds. There is a plan in place to spend the ~$2.5M for a current 5 year period (2012-16). More information on these projects can be found here:
| rmi_-_resort_development_strategy_2012-16.pdf |
Community Development & Infrastructure
Before one or many of us go off and start a project, it is critical to understand the basics of improving economic development. Community development assets are prerequisites to economic development and both are tied to placemaking.
"We need a new vision of community and economic renewal in the place-based economy; and we need a new approach to investing in development assets to realize that vision. Again, this is not a utopian undertaking. It is an approach to development that is grounded in extensive Canadian and international research and experiences in rural and small-town community and economic development and is rooted in the best lessons from BC's own past." - (Markey, S., Halseth, G. and Manson, G. Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia, 2012; p. 51-52)
"The community development foundation is informative when trying to understand how and why one community is successful in pursuing development strategies and/or responding to crises, when other apparently similar communities are not able to take action… Community capacity and the ability of decision makers within a community to work together within an integrated community and economic development process are critical for mobilizing place-based assets and being organized to respond to change." (Markey, S., Halseth, G. and Manson, G. Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia, 2012; p. 53)
"We need a new vision of community and economic renewal in the place-based economy; and we need a new approach to investing in development assets to realize that vision. Again, this is not a utopian undertaking. It is an approach to development that is grounded in extensive Canadian and international research and experiences in rural and small-town community and economic development and is rooted in the best lessons from BC's own past." - (Markey, S., Halseth, G. and Manson, G. Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia, 2012; p. 51-52)
"The community development foundation is informative when trying to understand how and why one community is successful in pursuing development strategies and/or responding to crises, when other apparently similar communities are not able to take action… Community capacity and the ability of decision makers within a community to work together within an integrated community and economic development process are critical for mobilizing place-based assets and being organized to respond to change." (Markey, S., Halseth, G. and Manson, G. Investing in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia, 2012; p. 53)
Placemaking Resources
- Creative City Network of Canada, Culture-Led Economic Development.
- Curtis, Craig (2012) Transforming a Downtown into an Urban Living Room. Presentation from the 2012 Alberta Recreation and Parks Association Annual Conference and Energize Workshop.
- DIY Artscape
- Leisure Information Network (LIN): For instance, a collection of Active Transportation Resources have been compiled here.
- Loflin, K (2013). Placemaking: The Creation of Loved Places and Why It Matters.
- Markusen, A. (2010). Creative Placemaking. National Endowment for the Arts.
- Project for Public Spaces (PPS)
- Resilient Economies
- Toronto Artscape
- Wood Buffalo Community Placemaking Initiative
- Active Transportation in Canada (2011)
| kootenay_placemaking-loflink.pdf |
