Placemaking, community planning and urban design

An active pedestrian realm invites conviviality and connection.

What makes a place memorable? What makes a place a spot we want to linger in? What brings us back?

"Placemaking" refers to the practice of creating spaces where people feel welcome and comfortable; places that are interesting, safe and vital, that are assets to our communities and that invite people to connect with each other and build the framework of community.

Placemaking is, as human environments and interactions are, multi-disciplinary. Effective placemaking includes consideration of not only the physical environment and the amenities of a place, but also the social and cultural activities and interactions that take place there.

Community Design Group's approach to placemaking includes consideration of physical, social, cultural, economic, mobility and public health frameworks.

As a people-centered and asset-based urban planning practice our main priority is the experience of people as they access, encounter and interact with a place. We emphasize pedestrian, bicycle and transit oriented design as keys to creating more vital, sustainable, equitable and healthful places.