EDA Journal Vol 15 No 1 | Page 16

ground area in cities 1 that is occupied for roads ( not including footpaths ) is as high as 18 %, making them the single largest owned public asset . In New York , The Project for Public Places trialled closing some of the streets as part of the ‘ Streets Renaissance Campaign ’, to challenge the vehicle heavy streetscape and build community led placemaking programs which focused on benefits for pedestrians . The campaign was a success and led to the team being hired by the Times Square Alliance to assist with transforming this heavily congested area into a pedestrian friendly experience with the aim of also improving retail strategies , public programming opportunities and raising the profile of the area as one of the cities key attractions . The resulting transformation is a high-profile example of how placemaking concepts can change how we look at street space as public spaces . This has lead to a slew of cities realising the benefits of more pedestrian friendly streets , including Seattle who recently permanently closed 20 miles of streets for pedestrians and Barcelona in Spain which has one of the highest percentages of turning streets into public spaces with its most famous being La Rambla .
PARKing Day started in San Francisco in 2005 and evolved to an internationally recognised day with members of the community redesigning carparks into popup parks , art galleries , cafes , playgrounds – you name it , and it has been a PARKing Day activation . The idea of using carparks for alternative uses became the everyday in Victoria when in late 2020 , in response to the COVID-19 pandemic , the State Government mandated outdoor dining as the main form of dining over the upcoming summer months . This resulted in an easing of local laws to allow cafes , restaurants and bars to use the outdoor road space in front of businesses for their patrons to wine and dine , with some councils adding live music , entertainment and activations to make this even more appealing . The concept was born out of necessity , but the benefits were noticeable immediately and saw street closures of whole blocks , as pedestrian friendly dining and outdoor activations took over the streets .
Moving away from streetscapes , Urban , Public or Street Art is another way of using placemaking methods with increased benefits to our cities . While some might question the legality of Street Art , places with a high number of graffiti and murals are increasingly becoming cultural centres and Public Art generates economic opportunities for artists and local industries . Urban Art , together with other forms of art and cultural activities , can significantly improves the attractiveness of areas . The island of Penang , in Malaysia , has long seen the benefits of urban art and has used it as a strong tourism attraction . George Town , the islands capital boasts a UNESCO World Heritage listed centre which features an ‘ open air gallery ’ through its streets which has seen a significant increase to the number of visitors to the Island . Likewise , in Melbourne , Hosier Lane led the way with Street Art and other laneways in the city followed . Melbourne ’ s Street Art has become a cultural attraction .
Street Studies writes of using Street Art as a transformational tool in a number of areas including engaging at-risk youth to create a sense of ownership of their streets . Using street art combined with light and sound installations can further increase the sense of safety and have benefits in the reduction of crime . Next Cities takes this one step further in giving the example of Kansas City where artworks in the form of curb extensions on roads can have traffic calming impacts and decrease the speed of vehicles by up to 45 %. This slowing of vehicle traffic and increasing pedestrian traffic has direct economical benefits for surrounding business with people being drawn to the areas increasing visitation numbers , time spent and money spent .
SO WHY INVEST SO HEAVILY IN PLACEMAKING ? In short , vibrancy increases economic opportunities . By engaging with the community to lead the decision making and implementation process of what happens within the places they live is socially powerful and research from across the globe shows significant economic benefits from these placemaking initiatives .
The City of Perth found that introducing parklets resulted in a 20-35 % increase in foot traffic and 89 % of the community were in support of their streets being used for them . A 2020 study by Craig Richards and Anthea Hargreaves 2 from Bicycle Network showed investing in parklets , retail or hospitality spaces can have a 381 % return on investment , quoting a $ 15million investment can result in a $ 71.3 million boost into the economy . Walk Scores calculates the walkability of places and in 2020 a Leinberger & Alfonzo study showed that a place with good walkability generates 80 % more in retail sales compared with fair walkability .
Urban Art in cities also has significant economic benefits in retail , marketing and tourism , by creating great content in a city and helping form a cultural identity . Good branding creates value , it also impacts real estate prices . In the U . K ., a recent study conducted by scholars of Warwick University 3 demonstrated that areas which had high density Street Art have registered an increase in the real estate prices . Another U . K study in 2017 4 , a specific U . K . reported investors were willing to pay more for the property , especially if the artwork was by a well-known artist , and could increase property prices up to 30 %.
While studies are now showing we can ascertain the economic benefits of placemaking on these factors , along with other benefits on climate change , architecture , landscapes and urban planning , what is harder to measure is the impact on human scale factors - well being , community cohesion , safety , cultural memories , pride in one ’ s neighbourhood and connection to place and each other . Placemaking has benefits across these which also need to be bought into the equation .
Hobsons Bay City Council recognises the value of placemaking not just on the economy but also on its community and is using placemaking methods as the foundation of its Better Places program . The initiative is unique in allowing the community to lead the process for the revitalisation of its 11 suburbs in Melbourne ’ s inner west , by using placebased thinking and design to turn their high streets , neighbourhoods , industrial precincts and recreational areas into places of community pride and connection .
The Better Places Project starts by asking the community three simple questions : What do you love about the place you live ? What would you change ? What are your ideas for the place ? The feedback given is used to create a vision and themes for the suburbs and underpins the projects that then make up the Place Guide . Each Place Guide is designed to make the suburbs better places to live , work and visit and are unique to the values , aspirations and local context of the area it focuses on .
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