Presentation for the 27th National Convention of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners

1. PLACEMAKING, PUBLIC SPACES, AND
CITIZEN-LED PLANNING
Ragene Andrea L. Palma
ragenepalma@gmail.com | littlemissurbanite.com
Learnings from Northampton, Massachusetts

2. OUTLINE
➤ PART I: Democracy and equality in
planning: The fight for public and open
spaces, and citizen-led planning, and how it
relates to sustainability
➤ PART II: The objective: Learning from a
different system, and the tactics of
approaching communities and spaces
➤ PART III: Learning from Northampton, and
a few other cities
➤ PART IV: Takeaways for the PH setting:
Creating Placemade

3. I
PART

4. INEQUALITY

5. INEQUALITYINEQUALITY

6. INEQUALITY

7. JUSTICE
SUSTAINABILITY

8. Map by Francis Gasgonia

9. Map by Francis Gasgonia
CITIES

10. CITIES
Photo by Paulo Alcazaren

11. PLANNING
INDIVIDUAL
CHOICES

12. REPUBLIC

13. REPUBLIC
RES PUBLICA
comes from

14. RES PUBLICA
BONDS OF ASSOCIATION
MUTUAL COMMITMENT OF PEOPLE
A POLITY, NOT JUST FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Source: The Fall of Public Man
A “ PUBLIC AFFAIR”

15. IN TODAY’S RES PUBLICA
STRANGERS ARE THREATSSource: The Fall of Public Man

16. WHEN CITIES SHOULD HAVE
PUBLIC SPACES FOR
COHESIVE SOCIETIES

17. IF PEOPLE ARE
THE LIFEBLOOD
OF CITIES

18. MAKE DEMOCRACY
WORK IN
URBAN PLANNING

19. WORK TO MAKE
URBAN PLANNING
CITIZEN-LED

20. II
PART

22. PLACEMAKING
activated spaces
community engagement
colors
chairs
usable spaces
outdoor lifestyle
conversation
sharing
inclusive activities
play
gardens
happiness
walkable areas
productivityopenness

23. FELLOWSHIP OBJECTIVE:
To learn the strategies and tactics of
recreating spaces with communities
sustainably

24. III
PART

25. NORTHAMPTON

26. FOCUS ON ALL NEIGHBORHOODS

27. TACTICAL URBANISM:
FROM UNLOVED
PAVEMENTS TO
LOVED SPACES

30. 2008 NOW
Permanent open space 15% 25%
Managed for conservation 20%

35. Protected Spaces

36. Road Narrowing

37. Way-finding

38. Comfort in public spaces

39. People-centric urban design

40. Designed parklets

41. Citizen-led parklets

42. Women’s history mural on unused walls

43. Open spaces for gardens

44. Knowledge on flora in public gardens

45. Edible gardens

46. Breathing buildings

47. Art and nature

48. Respecting nature
HOLYOKE

52. BOSTON

56. CAMBRIDGE
Integrated design

57. NYC
Way-finding in cities

58. Hands-on
efforts to
maintain the
High Line

59. “Reuse”
Rails to trails

60. Protected streets for the youth

61. Streets-for-people spaces

62. Movable chairs

63. MANCHESTER
Pride in city identity

64. KEY LEARNINGS
1. Societal cohesion is how cities work -
neighborhoods, people as friends, liberties
and voices matter; placemaking is one way
to push cohesion further.
2. “Comprehensive” planning doesn’t always
work, we have too much bureaucracy;
smaller plans, which echo Jacobsean
arguments, work better at specific scales.
3. Make goals, set targets that you
understand, not because you have to
“comply.” Learn to monitor.
4. Not because it’s “government” or
“authority” doesn’t mean it’s always right.
Governments have to ask, and have to
listen.

66. IV
PART

67. Urban planning
doesn’t always
have to be top-
down, too
technical, or
investment-
intensive. It can
simply be done
with plants and
paint, and with
communities.

68. PLACEMADEcreating better urban spaces, one place at a time
I created

69. “More than half of the world’s population now
live in urban areas. By 2050, that figure will have
risen to 6.5 billion people – two-thirds of all
humanity. Sustainable development cannot be
achieved without significantly transforming the
way we build and manage our urban spaces.”

70. PLACEMADE’S VISION
Top-down planning Inclusive planning
Unshared, inequitable
spaces
Better, greener, usable
places
FROM TO
Spaces and streets left alone
by residents
Places championed and
transformed by communities
Drab, decaying cities Livable, sustainable cities

71. REIMAGINE
TEACH
CREATE
SUSTAIN URBAN TRANSFORMATION
Localize and simplify the
framework.

72. YSEALI Professional Fellows Spring 2018
Environmental Sustainability
YSEALI Urban Planning and Smart Growth -
Singapore Regional Workshop 2017
Jean Palma, EnP
Yowee Gonzales, EnP
Eunice Dela Cruz
Ishtar Padao, EnP
Francis Gasgonia, EnP
TEAM LEAD, CONDUCT
OF PLACEMAKING 101
MENTORING ON
RESILIENT SPACES
MENTORING ON SOCIO-
POLITICAL SPACES
PROJECT MAPPING
PROJECT MAPPING

73. Write letters.

74. Local is key. Inspire change.

76. PLACEMADEMAP BY ISHTAR PADAO
SSS VILLAGE STREET PAINTING:
IDENTITY, EQUALITY, AND COLOR

78. PHYSICAL CHANGE &
TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE
➤ Gutter, sidewalk, and
pedestrian crosswalk painting
➤ School garden
➤ Protected bike lane and water
pumping station parklet
➤ Capacitating the Homeowners
Associations
➤ Collaborating with the city
planning office

79. Observe the city. Write urban diaries.

80. Or sketch.

81. “Instead of waiting for years of planning studies
and computer models to get something done,
we’ve done it with paint and temporary
materials. And the proof is not in the computer
model, it is in the real-world performance of
the street.
-Janette Sadik-Khan
New York City Department of Transportation

82. Let’s collaborate.
And please like our
page! facebook.com/
PlacemadePH

83. PLACEMAKING, PUBLIC SPACES, AND
CITIZEN-LED PLANNING
Ragene Andrea L. Palma
ragenepalma@gmail.com | littlemissurbanite.com
Learnings from Northampton, Massachusetts
THANK YOU.