Placemaking is New, State-Wide Economic Development Strategy

The image and content below were taken from the Projects for Public Space Blog which I've featured on our blog before. Keep in mind this is only a snip-it of the full article, if you're keen to read more please visit their site for the full thing by clicking here.

Interest in the idea of Placemaking and Place-based Governance has been ‘percolating’ around the world during the past several years as people are looking for new models for economic growth and for creating place capital, the shared wealth that drives thriving communities.

One center of this ‘percolation’ is in Michigan where the new Governor, Rick Snyder, used the announcement of his first Special Message to the Michigan Legislature to demonstrate the important role that Placemaking could play in the state’s future.

Recognizing the successful efforts of various organizations including the Michigan Municipal League, The Michigan Land Use Institute, and the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, the governor’s Director of Strategic Planning, Bill Rustem, helped craft a Special Message with an unprecedented focus on Placemaking at both the state and local levels:

The Governor’s Special Message on Community Development and Local Government Reforms to the Michigan State Legislature, March 21, 2011:

“Neighborhoods, cities and regions are awakening to the importance of ‘place’ in economic development. They are planning for a future that recognizes the critical importance of quality of life to attracting talent, entrepreneurship and encouraging local businesses. Competing for success in a global marketplace means creating places where workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses want to locate, invest and expand. This work has been described as a “sense of place” or “place-based economic development” or simply “placemaking.”

Economic development and community development are two sides of the same coin. A community without place amenities will have a difficult time attracting and retaining talented workers and entrepreneurs, or being attractive to business.

Each community contributes to the overall success of its region. People, companies and talent do not move to specific communities- they move to regions. Being globally competitive as a region requires understanding, mapping and pooling regional resources and assets. Local governments, the private sector, schools, higher education and nongovernmental and civic organizations must collaborate to make Michigan’s economic regions, and ultimately the state, competitive.”

According to Arnold Weinfeld, director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs at the Michigan Municipal League, “Placemaking is a positive approach to recreating our economies and communities for the 21st century.”