Ayres Knowledge Center INDentrification Via Placemaking | Page 10

be viewed in context is supported with QR Codes that enable the user to scan the sign and
immediately be delivered to the proper web location. This effort, which included placement of
tour signs at key locations, helped to demonstrate how public enhancements could support adjacent
private development. This tool has also attracted attention from developers and investors outside
the immediate market who were able to experience the community’s vision from afar.
This technology has been gaining in popularity to assist communities and developers in answering
questions about how the public realm and private development might interact. Because of the
efficiency inherent
in creating digital
modeling, this tool
could help to relieve
tension
between
proponents
and
opponents of infill
development who
would normally be
arguing
about
design issues based
on
somewhat
abstract
2D
illustrations
and
drawings.
These
types of animations
are likely to increase
in use over time and
help to generate
better
public
discourse regarding
the actual impacts of
a development.
Figure 11 - Virtual tour board demonstrating how to view the information when on-site. Several
boards were placed at key locations throughout the district.
Although the term
“gentrification” has
taken on a negative
connotation for its
recent history of
displacing long-time
residents of lower
income
neighborhoods, the
conversion
of
industrial districts
into mixed use
neighborhoods
is
not always negative.
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