110
series of dialogues among residents and collectively envision a desirable future
state of community.
Regarding the working definition, Placemaking Chicago, a well-respected NGO
involved in urban planning, provides a clear definition of placemaking:
“Placemaking is a people-centered approach to the planning, design and management of
public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the
people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover needs and aspirations. This
information is then used to create a common vision for that place. The vision can evolve
quickly into an implementation strategy, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements
that can immediately bring benefits to public spaces and the people who use them.” (∗underlining added by the author for emphasis.)
Project for Public Spaces based in New York, another well-respected organization working on urban development, adds that placemaking is to “inspire people to
collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community”
(Project for Public Space 2016). Several other NGOs based in English-speaking
countries work for the implementation of placemaking concept to solve local challenges. All of these organizations emphasize the participation of residents in the
process of placemaking.
By integrating the conceptual definition of scholars and the working definition of
practitioners, this study defines placemaking as the collective social, political, and
material processes planned and implemented by a group of people who reside in a
particular place to envision the future state of their communities. These processes
include a series of formal and informal gatherings in which a wide range of topics
and methods to realize their desirable form of community are discussed.
5.3.3 Practice: Monogatari Workshop
The workshop was organized for 2 days in August 2016. By applying a Japanese
expression of “stories” (monogatari), the workshop was entitled Monogatari
Workshop. The objective was to elicit stories about places in the town of Gojome
about which people have personal or collective memories. This workshop corresponds to the beginning of placemaking process, re-examining people’s understanding about the environment in which they live in. Nine students from Gojome High
School participated, including two local residents: one man in his early 50s and
another man in his early 60s served as key informants for the interviews included in
the workshop.
Photography was utilized as the main method of this workshop. Firstly, old pictures taken 50–100 years ago in Gojome were used during the interviews to enable
the informants to recount stories of the past (Fig. 5.5). By asking key informants
questions about the events, items, and activities shown in those pictures, the participants learned the lifestyle of people in the past (Fig. 5.6). The two adult residents
S. Kudo
series of dialogues among residents and collectively envision a desirable future
state of community.
Regarding the working definition, Placemaking Chicago, a well-respected NGO
involved in urban planning, provides a clear definition of placemaking:
“Placemaking is a people-centered approach to the planning, design and management of
public spaces. Put simply, it involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions of the
people who live, work and play in a particular space, to discover needs and aspirations. This
information is then used to create a common vision for that place. The vision can evolve
quickly into an implementation strategy, beginning with small-scale, do-able improvements
that can immediately bring benefits to public spaces and the people who use them.” (∗underlining added by the author for emphasis.)
Project for Public Spaces based in New York, another well-respected organization working on urban development, adds that placemaking is to “inspire people to
collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community”
(Project for Public Space 2016). Several other NGOs based in English-speaking
countries work for the implementation of placemaking concept to solve local challenges. All of these organizations emphasize the participation of residents in the
process of placemaking.
By integrating the conceptual definition of scholars and the working definition of
practitioners, this study defines placemaking as the collective social, political, and
material processes planned and implemented by a group of people who reside in a
particular place to envision the future state of their communities. These processes
include a series of formal and informal gatherings in which a wide range of topics
and methods to realize their desirable form of community are discussed.
5.3.3 Practice: Monogatari Workshop
The workshop was organized for 2 days in August 2016. By applying a Japanese
expression of “stories” (monogatari), the workshop was entitled Monogatari
Workshop. The objective was to elicit stories about places in the town of Gojome
about which people have personal or collective memories. This workshop corresponds to the beginning of placemaking process, re-examining people’s understanding about the environment in which they live in. Nine students from Gojome High
School participated, including two local residents: one man in his early 50s and
another man in his early 60s served as key informants for the interviews included in
the workshop.
Photography was utilized as the main method of this workshop. Firstly, old pictures taken 50–100 years ago in Gojome were used during the interviews to enable
the informants to recount stories of the past (Fig. 5.5). By asking key informants
questions about the events, items, and activities shown in those pictures, the participants learned the lifestyle of people in the past (Fig. 5.6). The two adult residents
S. Kudo