Creating meaningful places
Leisure & Events Management

What makes a place great?

 

'Everyone has the right to live in a great place.

More importantly, everyone has the right to contribute to making the place where they already live great' (Fred Kent)

The Place Diagram

Great public spaces are those places where celebrations are held, social and economic exchanges occur, friends run into each other, and cultures mix. They are the “front porches” of our public institutions – libraries, field houses, schools – where we interact with each other and government. When these spaces work well, they serve as the stage for our public lives (pps.org).

In evaluating thousands of public spaces around the world, PPS has found that to be successful, great places generally share the following qualities: 

  1. they are accessible (access & linkages);
  2. people are engaged in activities there (uses & activities);
  3. the space is comfortable and has a good image (comfort & image);
  4. and finally, it is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit (sociability);
  5. is climate adaptable (climate adaption) - this 5th quality is added by Stipo (Stipo, z.d.)

PPS developed The Place Diagram as a tool to help people in evaluating any place, good or bad. Learn more about the qualities identified by PPS and climate adaptation.


The Place Diagram (pps.org; Stipo, z.d.)

In addition to The Place Diagram, PPS introduced some other frameworks which you can use as a guidance for creating meaningful places. 

The power of 10+

The Power of 10+ is a concept how cities transform through placemaking. This concept helps to evaluate and facilitate placemaking at multiple city scales. It is a powerful tool for generating constructive conversations to identify targeted Placemaking efforts (pps.org, n.d.).

Places thrive when people have many reasons to be there. Ideally, within each city or region, there will be 10 or more major destinations, each with 10 or more places, layered with 10 or more things to do.

The Power of 10+ offers an easy framework that motivates residents and stakeholders to revitalize urban life. It helps to encourage everyone to think about what there is to do in their community (Madden, 2018)

The Power of 10+ (PPS, 2022)

Learn more about The Power of 10+.

 Principles of placemaking

Through the years, PPS has identified 11 key principles for  transforming public spaces into vibrant community places.

Taken together, they provide a handy road map showing how to develop and manage a succesful place (Madden, 2018). These principles are:

The 11 key principles of placemaking (PPS, 2022)

Learn more about the 11 key principles for placemaking.