Placemaking and the City

Cities are back in fashion; on television (Sex in the City), in music (with ‘urban’ now the codeword for black, popular and rhythmic), in architecture (where density generates the most rewarding opportunities), among international agencies (seeking ways of managing post-Fordist and post-industrial societies), and within the planning establishment (with the reversal of ideas on the uses of the city). One of the most important issues facing planning at the beginning of the twenty-first century is how to revitalise cities. Today, cities are seen as assets rather than liabilities. Their role as engines of economic growth is widely accepted and their spheres of influence the city is becoming recognised as fundamental building blocks in the national fabric.

I begin this article with some words of wisdom by James Howard Kunstler an American author and social critic; “The twentieth century was about getting around. The twenty-first century will be about staying in a place worth staying in.” If asked to name your favourite place, what would you choose, how would you choose? Is it that trendy cafe in Fitzroy, or some place of natural beauty, or maybe it’s just some ordinary space where you feel at home. Regardless of your choice few others would understand its appeal. This prompts the question, what makes a place so? What are the ingredients required to assist in forming your favourite place? How much of the physical form of places affect our love or hate for it?

Unfortunately I’m not an environmental physiologist, so I can’t delve into the human behaviour side of places and placemaking. However, as many of you have already realised, planning as a field of study integrates knowledge from a range of disciplines, from criminology to art, from biological functions to the structure and design of buildings. William H. Whyte’s Street Life Project (1980) is one of the “best known applications of social science research in urban planning” (Lew 2006). Whilst working at the New York City Planning Commission in 1969, Whyte began a study which examined how “newly planned city spaces were actually working out – something that no one had previously researched” (PPS 2010). Through observing human activity Whyte identified elements of the physical form which either drew people to them or deterred them. His study found that the success of small urban spaces was the availability of seating, street life and atmosphere including street food. Although quite simple, his findings transformed New York’s planning policy. A similar analysis of the dynamics of public spaces is Jan Gehl’s Public Life and Public Spaces Survey, which observes the movement of people and how urban places are used. Only last year he released his findings of the Perth ‘Public Spaces and Public Life’ study which was the sequel to the 1993-94 survey.

In thinking about your favourite place and some of the greatest places around the world, they all seem to have one key element and that is people. I know right, Revelation! Yet it seams that during the 70s-90s planners and architects forgot that and instead designed nice big car parking areas and bland eating areas in the city. Other elements in these spaces are that they are accessible, not simply by car but by foot, cycle or bus, they also have things to do, places to interact, whether they be outdoor cafes or human scale chess boards. Finally, these places feel comfortable. Whether it’s the shady trees and grassy knoll to sit on or the urban grit and graffiti walls of city lanes. These places cater for a range of users, local artist selling his art work to passersby, to the patrons sipping coffee and reading the news of the day at the surrounding cafes or the family feeding the pigeons in the square or the old Italian men gathered around the makeshift table to play cards. Together they create a sense of place, a mixing pot of diverse cultures and ideas which people desire to be apart of.

Cities have become concentrations of knowledge, culture, employment, creativity and education and the street plays a highly important role in the exchange of these. For most of the 20th century, cities have been ‘invaded’ by the car, people became second to cars, pedestrians were restricted to narrow paths which restricted movement, the enjoyment of stationary activities and further encouraged the use of car as a primary transport option. In recent decades however, there has been a shift cities to reclaim the street to create an environment where public life and walking are the first priority. Even in the small town of Perth there has been a shift in policy. Since 1993 7km of footpaths have widened in the CBD from 3m to as much as 6m in most streets such as Hay (Gehl Architects 2009). In 2007, the New York City Council with assistance from Jan Gehl temporarily closed 12 km of Park Avenue (an eight lane artery traversing almost the entirety of Manhattan Island) for their Summer Streets program which runs on Saturday mornings. This idea has pedalled its way across the country to Seattle and San Francisco and in Gehl’s most recent trip to Perth he promoted the “Open Streets concept” for Hay St from East Perth to Kings Park on Sundays. Gehl’s study also found that between 1993 and 2008 Perth experienced a 190% increase in outdoor cafes and restaurants and a 74% increase in alfresco seating. However, Perth still lacks behind Melbourne, who in 1993/1994 had the same amount of alfresco seating (1,940) and now dramatically outranks Perth with 5,380 seats in 2004 compared to 3,680 in 2008.

Alex Frankcombe, Perth WA