2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 34

traditionally acted independently of one
another are coming together more. They are
pulling resources, inviting ideas, finding artists,
and encouraging competitions to make
places not only more attractive but also more
fun and more inclusive and equitable. Placemaking
is a vehicle to extend the joy of the
city. This isn't always a question of spending
money or rebranding a place: it's about
unleashing creativity to discover the uniqueness
that makes people love being together,
with authenticity and staying power. Placemaking
leads to pride of place.
DAMON: In many jurisdictions, commercial
property is taxed at a higher rate than residential
property, for obvious reasons. But if
residential properties are now being used
much more often as home offices ... city government
coffers are reduced because more
people work from their homes, and commercial
office leases are down, we may have
to rethink how we tax properties. This could
help bring people back downtown. Otherwise,
employees are subsidizing their employers.
Can
placemaking foster diversity, equity,
and inclusion in communities?
TAKÁCS: Yes, [and] it starts with opening a
conversation. Fostering diversity, equity, and
inclusion is a multilayered process of welcoming
and belonging. People love to talk
about their neighborhood-past, present, and
future. We don't often have the occasion
to do that together, openly and freely. The
placemaker can convene and sustain [such a]
conversation. Being mindful of " who " we are
Fifth + Broadway
replaced the old
downtown Nashville
Convention Center
with a pedestrianoriented
mixeduse
development
that incorporates
residential and office
towers, shops, and
restaurants, along
with a rooftop
events space, a
market hall, a live
music venue, and the
National Museum of
African American
Music.
34
URBAN LAND SUMMER 202 4
as a community is as important-if not more
vital-than " what, " " where, " and " how " we
make a place around us.
LAW: People often interact only with the kind
of people they're used to. A good placemaker
needs to make sure that volunteers
[who] help raise funds or sponsor projects
don't turn public spaces into a club. Everyone
needs to understand, from day one, that
what we are doing together is about the
public good. In addition, placemakers have
to ask themselves, do I have any prejudices
or cognitive biases? You have to understand
your own biases to make sure you don't fall
into a trap, as well.
DAMON: The concept of placemaking, as
many progressives have pointed out, is a
little odd, because it suggests that there
was no place before the placemaking effort.
That's obviously not the case in a modern
city. Part of the answer to increasing equity
and inclusion is to consider what the place
is that we are unmaking to make the new
place, and whether the people who used
the original place are being welcomed in the
new place. Urban cores need to be the place
where the diversity of the region gathers and
feels welcome.
HELLER: Yes, through intentionality and purposeful
placemaking. One real-world example
is Freedom West Homes on four city blocks
in San Francisco. It's an urban renewal
approach based on equity by design. Freedom
West is an existing, low-scale, nearly
400-unit minority-owned cooperative that
is not economically sustainable. We created
an equity-by-design framework to develop
non-negotiable guiding principles for the
residents and worked with MacFarlane Partners
to redevelop their land and build them
equity at no cost to them. Octavia Street
will become a pedestrian public realm, and
a new plaza will be created for the co-op's
communal gathering space.
MAWEMA: Placemaking plays a major role
in the design of inclusive places, providing
a variety of ways to engage with a site. A
good case study is Baltimore's Harborplace,
which is currently an insular destination
that cuts off downtown Baltimore from the
ZA CK BENS ON C OUR TES Y OF GENSLER
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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