11 Principles of Placemaking: How to Design People-Centered Places
In a way, placemaking is UX Design on an urban scale.
If you want to design places catered for humans, placemaking is the concept you want to utilize. It’s like UX on an urban scale. We plan, design, and develop according to the user’s needs and preferences, to ensure that the output is actually useful and usable for them.
In this case, the user is the community — the people.
In their book How to Turn a Place Around, Project for Public Spaces (PPS) proposes 11 principles to help urban planners, designers, and developers make places people actually want to live in.
Let’s dissect them one by one.
1. The Community Is the Expert
To begin a placemaking process, it’s best to first identify the talents and assets of the community.
In every community, there are “experts” who can present valuable perspectives and insights about the area’s history, culture, functionalities, or any other aspect that’s considered meaningful for the people.
By placing the community as the expert, it will foster a sense of “community ownership” which elevates the place’s importance in the eyes of its residents.
