Making places better

  • Nick Wates

    Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

    Abstract

    Making Places Better presents five books produced by the author between 1976 and 2000 and assesses their contribution to the field of placemaking.

    It explains the action research process by which they were produced and the knowledge gaps they were attempting to address given the dynamic prevailing context of placemaking policy and practice.

    Contribution is assessed both by revisiting the author’s contemporary archives and by using a variety of online research tools to discover who has been using the books and what they thought about them.

    It is concluded that taken together the books have made an original and valuable contribution to knowledge in helping to lay the groundwork for the emerging field of placemaking, in particular by both recording and influencing the transition from ‘top down’ to ‘bottom up’ approaches.

    Participatory planning will be increasingly vital in democracies and its evolution will be assisted by the ability to share local experience and academic analysis globally.

    The five books are:

    The Battle for Tolmers Square, 1976;

    Squatting, the real story, 1980;

    Community Architecture, 1987;

    Action Planning, 1996;

    The Community Planning Handbook, 2000.
    Date of AwardFeb 2020
    Original languageEnglish
    Awarding Institution
    • University of Brighton
    SupervisorPaul Gilchrist (Supervisor) & Neil Ravenscroft (Supervisor)

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