Placemaking and the Future of Cities

In previous classes, we have brought up the topic of the lack of fitness space or public space for children and the general public  in inner cities.  "Cities and towns are growing at unprecedented rates. In 1950, one-third of the world’s population lived in cities. Just 50 years later, this proportion has risen to one-half and is expected to continue to grow to two-thirds, or six billion people, by 2050." (1) Streets, squares, and parks, especially in the informal city, are often chaotic, poorly planned and maintained -- if they exist at all.  There is a network called UN-HABITAT that is taking back the abandoned play spaces and even carving out new space for children and communities to utilize.  Below is a the mission and focus of the UN-HABITAT program.

"In 2011, UN-HABITAT and Project for Public Spaces (PPS) signed a cooperative agreement, Transform­ing Cities through Placemaking & Public Spaces, to harness the power of public space for the common good. By recognizing and developing the positive potential of their public spaces, cities can enhance safety and security, create economic opportunity, improve public health, create diverse public environments, and build democracy." (1)   In many cities, especially in developing countries, slum dwellers number more than 50 percent of the population and have little or no access to shelter and other basic services like electricity, clean water, and sanitation. These conditions are unaccept­able. They can, and must, be changed.

By taking back the public space and transforming it to a constructive structured public space a sense of community can be made.  This new space can be used by children to learn new games, meet new people, build key social skills, and stay out of trouble.  These spaces can also stimulate the local economy by providing a place for markets.  The locals can then share their skills and crafts with their community for a chance to make some money as well as building networks and relationships.  This space also allows for public health to be linked in as well.  A safe space for the community to gather and learn more about health issues that are current or preventative techniques to better improve their health will be easy to do with a public space of this nature.  Lastly the space that UN-HABITAT is trying to build will provide a place to reinvent community planning.  By the community having their own space to gather, express concerns, educate themselves of current events actually puts some of the power back into the people.  They will feel like their concerns can be voiced or heard. The only way to really fix a problem is to know what the problem truly is.  The people who know the problem the best are the people of the community living and experiencing the problem.

"Placemaking promotes a simple principle: if you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places." (1) I think more of our world needs to be planned like this.  After all life is about the human interaction, sharing experiences, and learning new things.  If every community had a place designed for people the world would be a happier and safer place.  What do you think? Should governments local or global put more energy and effort into space planning with the human interaction in mind?

(1) http://www.pps.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/PPS-Placemaking-and-the-Future-of-Cities.pdf