Thinking Beyond the Bench

Have you ever stumbled upon a perfectly placed bench? A bench to eat your lunch, a bench to stop and rest on a trail, a bench to wait for your reservation at a restaurant… Well, I have developed an obsession with benches over the last decade - I know, weird right? But, turns out there is a term for passionate “bench-lovers” like me called placemaking!

I first fell in love with a bench at the Cliffs of Dover in England while studying abroad in 2014. If you have never been the White Cliffs of Dover, it is an absolutely breathtaking view of the English Coastline with views of ships coming in and out of port situated below. As you crest the hill to view the giant white cliffs there is a perfectly placed bench to admire the beautiful scenery. The image is permanently engrained in my memory from that day – an older couple sitting close to each other on one end of the bench, his arm around her on the windy day, sitting quietly, enjoying the view. 

Benches are strategically placed seating with the purpose of getting you to stay in one place a little longer, to make connections, with people or with the place, and ultimately make the place a destination, not just a passthrough. 

Years later, working in economic development, I learned that developing a great place is known as placemaking. According to the Project for Public Spaces, placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value.

Placemaking is not a new concept, and it has different meanings for different communities. You would think that rural communities would have drastically different placemaking efforts than in larger urban areas, right? Not necessarily! Placemaking concepts can be applied to communities of all sizes. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, or bench, just make it work for your community!

The Project for Public Spaces has great examples of placemaking. Here are my top four considerations for implementing placemaking efforts in your community: 

• Listen to Your Community – Placemaking starts with conversations in your community! Public spaces should understand who they are serving and their desired purpose. And guess what, that purpose can change over time! It’s important to have ongoing, open-ended conversations with your community, not only to hear their ideas, but to receive buy-in to yours! In any community there are people who can provide historical perspective, valuable insights into how the area functions, and an understanding of the critical issues and what is meaningful to people.
• Simply Observe A Place – You can learn so much by simply observing a place! In your community take note of how people are using (or not using) public spaces. What do people like about those spaces, or what don’t they like about them. In underutilized spaces, are there barriers as to why the space is not being used? Can those barriers be overcome?
• Successful Places Have Multiple Destinations – A community can and should have multiple places with multiple reasons to be there. These might include a place to sit (maybe it’s a bench!), playgrounds or parks, art to touch, music to listen to, food to eat, history to experience, and people to meet. If you think about your community, these experiences may be unique to that particular community. It is the role of placemakers to encourage everyone to think about what’s special in their communities. How many quality places are located nearby, and how are they connected? Are there places that should be recognized but aren’t? Explore more about the Power of 10 Concept
• Money Is Not (Always) The Issue – This one is taken directly from The Project for Public Spaces, because I cannot say it any better! This statement can apply in a number of ways. For example, once you've put in the basic infrastructure of the public spaces, the elements that are added that will make it work (e.g., vendors, cafes, flowers and seating) will not be expensive. In addition, if the community and other partners are involved in programming and other activities, this can also reduce costs. More important is that by following these steps, people will have so much enthusiasm for the project that the cost is viewed much more broadly and consequently as not significant when compared with the benefits.

I challenge you to think about your community in terms of placemaking. What if we built our communities around places? Placemaking begins at the smallest scale, like a strategically placed bench. 

Thanks to the Project for Public Space for being an informative placemaking resource >> https://www.pps.org/