Compiled by John Cartwright
Placemaking is a way of…
What do we mean by a safer and better place to be? We mean a place where people can live, work, play and grow – altogether, a liveable place. Safety - and the sense of being safe - can be created. So can ‘unsafety’ and the possibility, or even the likelihood, of harm. Safety is more than the absence of harm, just as peace is more than the absence of war. Harm doesn't just happen arbitrarily - they happen (e.g. mugging, gang graffiti …) partly because there is a root cause, an opportunity, an opening, a weak point - making them more likely to happen in that particular place. Every 'place' (e.g. your street, the planet) has its’ own features and characteristics, its’ own opportunities for good things or bad things to happen.
There is always, therefore, a 'pathway' that has led to harm or can lead to a better and safer tomorrow. If we can identify that pathway (arising from an opportunity) we can then devise a way of interrupting it, so that the potential harm is less likely to happen. An opportunity for harm (e.g. a vacant lot used for dumping) may even be turned into an opportunity for improving safety (e.g. developing a simple park for recreation). A place may move quite quickly from safe to unsafe through neglect and apathy, or from unsafe to safe through strategically planned placemaking activities. So safety doesn't just happen - it is brought about and sustained by a myriad of large and small actions by a variety of possible actors, usually over an extended period.
So how do we actually go about this ‘placemaking’ thing?
There are two possible ways of thinking about what is to be done:
Here are a few basic steps:
1. When walking, riding or driving around your neighbourhood, notice where and why at any point you tend to feel unsafe.
Let’s call this present state of things ‘A’.
2. Then, imagine what your neighbourhood would feel like if it was truly safe and peaceful (e.g. your daughter could walk to the shop without fear at any time of the day or night; you could sleep with your bedroom window open, etc).
Let’s call that desirable state of things ‘Z’.
3. Think about the things you have noticed that tend to make you feel less safe, and ask yourself the question:
What is the first simple thing that I can do, to start the journey from A to Z?
(e.g. Help clean the park; send a C3 notification to City Council of a missing drain cover; become a patroller; share positive actions on social media, etc).
4. Do it, whatever it is and however apparently small.
5. Go on doing it.
We can get to Z....
Placemaking is a way of…
- looking at a place
- thinking about it
- taking action in it
What do we mean by a safer and better place to be? We mean a place where people can live, work, play and grow – altogether, a liveable place. Safety - and the sense of being safe - can be created. So can ‘unsafety’ and the possibility, or even the likelihood, of harm. Safety is more than the absence of harm, just as peace is more than the absence of war. Harm doesn't just happen arbitrarily - they happen (e.g. mugging, gang graffiti …) partly because there is a root cause, an opportunity, an opening, a weak point - making them more likely to happen in that particular place. Every 'place' (e.g. your street, the planet) has its’ own features and characteristics, its’ own opportunities for good things or bad things to happen.
There is always, therefore, a 'pathway' that has led to harm or can lead to a better and safer tomorrow. If we can identify that pathway (arising from an opportunity) we can then devise a way of interrupting it, so that the potential harm is less likely to happen. An opportunity for harm (e.g. a vacant lot used for dumping) may even be turned into an opportunity for improving safety (e.g. developing a simple park for recreation). A place may move quite quickly from safe to unsafe through neglect and apathy, or from unsafe to safe through strategically planned placemaking activities. So safety doesn't just happen - it is brought about and sustained by a myriad of large and small actions by a variety of possible actors, usually over an extended period.
So how do we actually go about this ‘placemaking’ thing?
There are two possible ways of thinking about what is to be done:
- ‘Fighting crime’ is for people specially trained to do so, and that excludes most of us.
- ‘Creating safety’, though, is what anyone can start doing at any time.
Here are a few basic steps:
1. When walking, riding or driving around your neighbourhood, notice where and why at any point you tend to feel unsafe.
Let’s call this present state of things ‘A’.
2. Then, imagine what your neighbourhood would feel like if it was truly safe and peaceful (e.g. your daughter could walk to the shop without fear at any time of the day or night; you could sleep with your bedroom window open, etc).
Let’s call that desirable state of things ‘Z’.
3. Think about the things you have noticed that tend to make you feel less safe, and ask yourself the question:
What is the first simple thing that I can do, to start the journey from A to Z?
(e.g. Help clean the park; send a C3 notification to City Council of a missing drain cover; become a patroller; share positive actions on social media, etc).
4. Do it, whatever it is and however apparently small.
5. Go on doing it.
We can get to Z....
