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Placemaking Revisited
With this explorative piece we aim to start a productive debate over questions related to whether genuine community change is possible through placemaking today. Can walkable, comfortable, interactive, and creative public space nurture equality, inclusion, and social justice? Does placemaking offer communities necessary safety nets to protect them from the negative effects of economic growth and market competition in cities? Or, is placemaking today merely one of the many marketing strategies helping cities compete for external investments in the era of neoliberal capitalism, especially when public services are undermined or completely diminished? In this piece, we briefly explore various effects of capital circulating through urban spaces and the complex interactions of actors involved in placemaking. We hope others will expand and build upon this introductory endeavor.