Placemaking: what does the term really mean? And how it can most effectively serve the needs of the most people. Scott Doyon shares some ideas.
"When I first developed my interest in placemaking twenty years ago it was driven by design. I was a brand advertising person which, by necessity, involves the study of behavior. Not just of people but of their context."
"Where and how people choose to live, I learned, provided a lot of insight into the kinds of things advertisers care about. Circumstances. Values. Aspirations. The things people buy to get through their everyday lives."
"It doesn’t tell you everything, of course, and for every broad stroke there’s no shortage of individuals who defy the generalization. But still, when you’re observing people in the aggregate, there’s a lot of content there."
Doyon talks through the meaning of placemaking, the universe, and everything.
Read the full story: Placemaking: Geek niche or the root of pretty much everything?
The Pendulum Shifts: Expertise in Planning Is Now Suspect
Thinking grass roots empowerment makes expertise unnecessary is not a return to traditional placemaking. It's just a new take on business as usual, argues Scott Doyon.
Placemaking vs. Placeshaking: Planning & Politics
Are you a Place-Maker or a Place-Shaker? Check out Scott Doyon's post for a look at where to draw the line. Spoiler alert: It's all about the politics.
How Placemaking Lost its Way — And How it Can Get Back on Track
The term has often become diluted, getting attached to projects that don’t live up to its lofty aspirations.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority