The evolutionary path of place making: From late twentieth century to post-pandemic cities

Abstract

Since its emergence in the latter half of the 20th century, the concept of place making has undergone substantial evolution. To fully comprehend how this concept has transformed and encountered diverse trajectories, it is beneficial to examine its evolutionary path over time. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a thorough review of the literature surrounding the expanding matrix of place making through a combination of bibliometric analysis and selective review. The paper seeks to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of nine interrelated paradigms of place making as a subfield of urban planning and design. These are, namely, late 20th century place making, sustainable place making, digital place making, democratic place making, creative place making, strategic place making, healthy place making, resilient place making, and post-pandemic place making. Results reveal that there has been a transition toward community-based participation and a stronger emphasis on social and environmental elements. Also, there has been a shift from emphasizing functional spaces to promoting community building, social connectivity, healthy, and resilient environments via long-term strategies as well as the deployment of smart city and digital technologies.