The 3P’s of place-making: Measuring place-making through the latent components of person, procedures and place

Abstract

Place-making is a concept used to describe and understand how meaningful places emerge from interactions between people and their environments. We present a first attempt at describing and measuring place-making through latent variable modelling, based on a large and representative sample (N = 7′035) in the Netherlands and two field surveys in the Netherlands and Switzerland (N = 191 and N = 129 respectively). We show that a three-factor structure of person, procedures and place, can be used to characterise neighbourhood place-making. We found the scale to be measurement invariant, only differences in question interpretation between urban vs. non-urban residents were found relating to the use and presence of green-space. Additionally, evidence of other factors affecting place-making scores, such as social cohesion or place-attachment, was detected across the different studies. We present possible implications of the place-making framework and its potential to be operationalised for deliberate place change in the context of unprecedented urbanisation rates.