Placemaking as co-creation – professional roles and attitudes in practice

Abstract

Citizens around the world are becoming more and more involved in the creation processes of various fields. However, the extent to which citizen initiatives and involvement are possible depends on the way in which professionals work. How do professional practices affect the involvement of other actors in urban development projects? The paper reviews current literature on placemaking and co-creation in order to identify suggested professional roles. Manzini’s maps of participant involvement and interaction quality, and Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation are presented as a framework for understanding different kinds of engagement. A case study in Berlin is analysed regarding how the suggested roles work in practice. Through semi-structured interviews with initiators and participants, the paper explores how the professionals experienced working with co-creation, as well as the other participants’ experiences of the professionals’ part in the process. The concluding discussion highlights the challenges that were experienced and suggests ways to move forward toward truly co-creative placemaking.

Keywords:

• Co-creation
• interaction quality
• involvement
• placemaking
• professional roles

Notes

1. A participant recalling experiences from a temporary project in Berlin. See further in the empirical studies section.

2. Within digital media ‘interaction design’ and ‘adaptive design’ are frequently used, and ‘transformation design’ has emerged among those who use the design process in order to collaborate across disciplines (Burns et al. 2006, 6 and Sanders and Stappers 2008, 6, 7).

3. Design professions are e.g. industrial design, interior design, architecture, and landscape architecture.

4. Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider and Jeremy Till.

5. Urban Catalyst was initiated as a research project in 2001 – 2003, and later developed into a platform for research, design, public intervention, conferences, exhibitions, and publications.

6. The ‘struggle between enemies’ is labelled antagonism by Mouffe.

7. Demolition of Palast der Republik started in 2006 despite the stormy debate and various proposals for new uses. Humbolt Forum, a replica of the former castle, is currently under construction and is estimated to be completed in 2019.

8. Main organizers were Raumlabor architects and Peanuts architects.

9. Main organizers were Raumlabor architects and the artists’ collective Club Real.

10. The interviews, with 15 individuals in total, were exhaustive and lasted between one and one and a half hour. They were made by the author of this article in November 2011. Some interviewees participated in both projects.

11. There are no exact figures for the number of participants, only estimations. With between 180 and 200, Der Berg was clearly the bigger project of the two.

12. An exception to this was a group of students building the hotel, who also cooked and ate together every evening.

13. Many did it as Baupraktikum within their architecture studies (i.e. to get practical experience of construction).