Places are the spaces where we get together, relax, celebrate and contemplate, as well as work, participate in civic life, learn and exchange.
Places comprise numerous elements, such as the topography of the surrounding area, the underlying natural environment, the built environment, the physical enclosure and edges these create, but also the less tangible features such as activities generated within the place, their significance, and whether those activities occur in public or private spaces. Different histories and stories also all have a bearing on how we understand places. Places all have distinct qualities, identities and character.
Communities in both rural and urban areas need to evolve and continue to prosper as we adapt to social and demographic changes and a changing climate. There is a great opportunity to better understand and improve the network of public spaces extending across our regions, cities, suburbs and towns.
Connecting with Country is an important aspect of gaining both a broader and deeper understanding of place. We can learn from this cultural understanding of the interdependency between people, their environment, and their wellbeing, and apply this as the primary frame through which we consider the design of the built environment.
For more information see Connecting with Country (GANSW 2020).
Peoples’ ability to engage with public space, the connective space of society, is the primary contributor to place – people create places for people by design and through delivery. The dynamics of making places is only possible through the active participation of many people, often from diverse backgrounds, with differing knowledge or community understanding. The involvement of local communities is critical in gaining an understanding of place.
Most places are created through various activities over time – they are the result of design, planning, and development but they also evolve through the influence, interactions and activities of the people who use them and care for them.
Places draw on history, values and the dialogue between people and their culture. Good places increase in value over time and help enrich communities and encourage citizenship. Through good design, the built environment can allow places to adapt to change.
A larger area may encompass zones of greater and lesser intensity, giving places within places their own significance. In the context of roads and streets, a study to determine the intensity of places will often come down to individual street blocks. This intensity may be low or localised, yet almost all streets, as public spaces, form part of someone’s network, such as providing residents with an address, or a familiar way to get from here to there.
While places are physical spaces, they are understood by different people in different ways and at different scales. This is because they are made up of many interwoven layers, both tangible and intangible. One way of studying a place is to analyse the following key factors: