Abstract

 
 
 This article is an investigation into the role of placemaking in the modern planning profession, with a focus on the evolution of placemaking, evaluation through the lens of a case study in Edmonton, AB, and analysis through three planning theories. It is argued that the ideas of placemaking have existed for much longer than the word itself. A brief background is provided detailing the development of placemaking. Examples of placemaking throughout history are discussed with a focus on the writings of Jane Jacobs. The Imagine Jasper Avenue and Experience Jasper Avenue pilot projects are explored, with a discussion of their placemaking elements. The history of Jasper Avenue as Edmonton’s main street and efforts to reimagine Jasper Avenue in the face of intense public scrutiny are investigated. Finally, placemaking is analysed through three planning theories: Planning as Design, the theories of Michel Foucault, and Semiotics. The major themes of these theories and their application to both placemaking and the case study are examined.
 
 
Highlights
This article is an investigation into the role of placemaking in the modern planning profession, with a focus on the evolution of placemaking, evaluation through the lens of a case study in Edmonton, AB, and analysis through three planning theories
The ideas of semiotics will be applied in order to understand the extremely symbolic nature of the Imagine Jasper Avenue project as a sign of maturation of the city as a whole, and the methods used to show Edmontonians that their main street is being reclaimed as a place for pedestrians
While some Edmontonians commuting from their farflung suburban houses did not appreciate the increase in commute time to their downtown offices, the neighbouring communities surrounding the Experience Jasper Avenue pilot project welcomed the changes to the public realm, as they provided a direct benefit to the amenities of their neighbourhoods (Stolte, 2019)
Summary
“Placemaking” is the new favourite buzzword of the professional planning world. It has effortlessly lumped together some of the major tenets of planning—design, functionality, creativity, etc.— and provided everyone from new planning graduates to the engineer-come-planners of yesteryear with an exciting “in vogue” term to relate ambitious and often expensive ideas to an increasingly wary public. The idea of placemaking frequently appears in many contemporary documents concerning the creation of new neighbourhoods or the reimagining of downtowns in need of a renewal It is not a new idea; the groundbreaking 1961 treatise The Death and Life of Great American Cities by planning champion Jane Jacobs established the ground rules for a place-based, community-centred approach to urban planning decades before those ideas were considered acceptable or popular by the professional planning society (PPS, 2009c). In an attempt to answer the above question, and comprehend the overall nature of the following case study and topic, this paper will examine the history and fundamentals of placemaking, reviewing the placemaking ideas of Jane Jacobs from more than 50 years previous, and introducing ideas from one of the foremost leaders in current placemaking best practices, the Project for Public Spaces It will discuss the Imagine Jasper Avenue concept design and Experience Jasper Avenue pilot project in the City of Edmonton, a redesign of the city’s premier street running through the physical, and psychological heart of Edmonton. These privately-owned spaces attempt to serve the same purpose as a public place and create a unique sense of community, but they are all too frequently locked behind closed doors, requiring a hopeful citizen to prove their worth with access to sufficient funds, or perhaps even worse, are repeated in any urban location in which they happen to occur with no lasting semblance to the conurbation that they are supposed to represent
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