SPOTLIGHT INSIGHT Creative Placemaking
Liz J.B. Wendt Development Director City Of Wausau
Callie Wulk Executive Director Wausau River District
Types of Placemaking “Placemaking” is an often misunderstood term, used in a variety of contexts to define different projects, engagement strategies, and goals. Mark A. Wyckoff (2014) explains that “[p]lacemaking is the process of creating quality places that people want to live, work, play, and learn in.” He identifies four categories of placemaking. “ Standard Placemaking is the process of creating Quality Places that people want to live, work, play, and learn in” and encompasses a wide range of projects and purposes. By contrast, “ Strategic Placemaking is targeted to achieving a particular goal in addition to creating Quality Places.” (Think Rib Mountain State Park plan.) Tactical Placemaking sets its sights on the nearer-term, often employing a phased approach that requires only short-term commitments and lower start-up costs. It is focused on testing an idea, project, or approach with the possibility of longer-term, often higher-cost implementation. (Think temporary bike lanes.) Creative Placemaking , the focus of this article, engages arts and cultural activities as a way of building, revitalizing, or enhancing public space. What is Creative Placemaking? Creative placemaking cherishes history and fosters experiences by incorporating arts and cultural assets into community development efforts. It works to celebrate these diverse cultures by inviting participation through events, exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities led by community members and organizations. This includes creative domains like visual arts, revitalization, events, and more. The notion that jobs follow people rather than people following jobs is becoming increasingly apparent in today’s economic climate, especially with the rise of remote work. This is particularly clear as people are more invested in
Historically, local and state governments have made collective efforts to foster economic development. These approaches have evolved over time and with different economic, social, and cultural influences. Economist Steven Deller of UW-Madison Extension taxonomized community economic development strategies in the United State in terms of “4 waves” (2021). The first wave, Business Recruitment , called upon states to attract existing out-of-state businesses by lowering taxes, deregulation, tax increment financing, and targeted incentives. (Think Foxconn.) S mall Business Development , the second wave, consisted of providing capital to support new and existing small businesses, which were often the greatest sources of new jobs. (Think access to venture capital.) The third wave, Public-private Partnerships , emphasized relationship- building and information sharing among community stakeholders, businesses, and trade associations. The focus here was on creating a cooperative environment conducive to supporting existing industry clusters. (Think the Dairy Business Association in Wisconsin.) While referenced as waves, these strategies are not mutually- exclusive and do work together (Deller, 2012). Deller (2021) went on to observe that the community economic development strategy used most frequently of late was decidedly different from the previous three. The fourth wave, Placemaking , focuses on creating and expanding amenities and improving quality of life as critical for attracting and retaining people. While the three previous waves implicitly assumed that people follow jobs, placemaking’s focus is on investing in community characteristics, recognizing that jobs increasingly follow people. Such efforts are local and bottom-up.
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Center for Business and Economic Insight
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