The concept of Placemaking

What is Placemaking?

Placemaking is the process of creating quality places where people want to live, work, play and learn. It involves enhancing the quality of public spaces and the well-being of those who utilise them.

So, how does placemaking work? 

Placemaking is a multidisciplinary approach to the planning, design, and management of spaces. It involves creating and enhancing spaces to improve the quality of life and foster a sense of community. The goal is to transform public spaces into vibrant, inclusive, and engaging environments that reflect the identity of the community.

The placemaking process often involves collaboration between residents, businesses, and urban planners to ensure that the resulting spaces are functional, meaningful, and reflective of the community's values. Placemaking focuses on the unique characteristics and needs of a specific location, considering cultural, social, and economic factors. 

Cultural factors in placemaking

Cultural factors involve understanding and incorporating the heritage, traditions, and cultural identity of a community into the design and development of spaces. This may include the integration of public art, cultural events, or architectural elements that reflect the local culture. 

Social factors in placemaking

Social factors encompass the way people interact and use public spaces. Placemaking aims to create environments that foster social connections and inclusivity. This might involve designing spaces that accommodate various activities, providing seating areas for socialising, or organising community events to bring people together.

Economic factors in placemaking

Economic factors in placemaking relate to the potential impact on local businesses and the overall economic vitality of the area. By creating attractive and well-utilised public spaces, placemaking can contribute to increased foot traffic, supporting local businesses and driving economic development.

Why do we need placemaking? 

An effective placemaking process, with community-based engagement at its core, capitalises on a local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, resulting in the creation of quality public spaces that contribute to people's health, happiness, and well-being.

Placemaking is an important and highly valued process for those who are deeply linked to the locations in their lives. It demonstrates how strong a group's collective vision can be. It assists users in reimagining daily spaces and seeing the possibilities of parks, downtowns, waterfronts, plazas, neighbourhoods, streets, markets, campuses, and public buildings for the first time. 

In essence, placemaking is about creating destinations. It recognises that successful places extend beyond physical boundaries to become hubs of social, economic, and cultural activity. By fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness, placemaking enhances the overall quality of life for individuals within a community.

By understanding the local context, needs, and aspirations, placemaking fosters a sense of ownership and pride among community members. This collaborative approach empowers people to shape the spaces they inhabit, resulting in more meaningful and sustainable transformations.

As more communities engage in placemaking and more professionals refer to their work as "placemaking," it is critical to protect the process's meaning and integrity.

Designers and developers are now recognising that placemaking is key to creating and uplifting environments or communities. 

Placemaking expertise

Placemaking is fundamentally a people-centered approach that relies on a deep and expansive understanding of the market as well as customer needs and desires. Effective placemaking initiatives must cater to basic customer needs; more importantly, they should position spaces as places that speak to lifestyle, health, and wealth aspirations. Developers should take a multifaceted approach with activations, seasonal activities, sponsorships, and workshops. All of these should be strategically promoted across various media platforms such as digital channels, PR efforts, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, and print advertisements to maximise reach.

Embracing placemaking is a long-term commitment that yields substantial dividends for developers. It serves as an indispensable tool to maximise revenues and bolster overall business performance. By creating places that resonate with communities, developers lay the groundwork for sustained success and enduring customer loyalty.

Conclusion 

Placemaking is the art of curating vibrant, community-centric environments that prioritise safety, connectivity, and sociability. Savills, a pioneer in real estate marketing, branding and placemaking across Viet Nam and the region, adopts a direct, results-driven approach to maximise returns for developers. 

Partner with Savills to create places, build your brand, and secure sustainable success for your real estate ventures. Contact us and view our capability statement.