Placemaking: from Practice to Impact

About

We will dive into the many temporary and placemaking initiatives happening in transformation areas in Amsterdam. Initiatives where residents, housing associations, governments and businesses work together. A key focus will be on the potential to reshape cities by (re)designing some of their foundational elements—specifically, the rules and regulations that govern public spaces. Just as social media is shaped by algorithms from big tech, offline public spaces can also be seen as the outcome of an "algorithm"—the set of rules and regulations in a city that collectively determine the spatial context and, in turn, the way we use urban spaces. By changing the algorithm, you change the city.

Throughout the program, we will examine inspiring examples where rules have led to better urban spaces, including facade gardens in Amsterdam, the espresso bar culture in Italy, free public transport in Tallinn, and the vibrant street music scene in the Parisian metro. We will consider how strategies from the city or village where you live could be applied to the city of Amsterdam or the other way around. With your student-team you will develop a small scale intervention to test whether proposed solutions lead to improvement for its users.

With Placemaking UvA education, you can directly contribute to the city, developing soft skills that matter and realize change. Let’s go!

Course leader

Bio Jesse Jop Jörg from We The City We The City was founded in 2012 by Jesse Jörg and consists of an ever changing team of creatives, designers and producers who work at the intersection of concept development and urbanism. Our strength is based on creativity, the ability to ‘read’ the city and our collaborative mindset. Bio Joop de Boer en Jeroen Beekmans from Pop-Up City Pop-Up City (PUC) is a creative agency based in Amsterdam, specializing in urban transformation and placemaking. Founded in 2007 by Jeroen Beekmans and Joop de Boer, PUC operates at the nexus of concept development, tactical urbanism, and strategic communication.

Target group

Level: Bachelors, Masters students and working professionals.

Background: Applicants should have an interest in urban studies, human geography, sociology and/or policy making. Working professionals with relevant experience in the above topics who wish to expand their knowledge in this field are also welcome to apply.

Course aim

This three-week program will begin by exploring placemaking—the philosophy and practice of enhancing urban spaces by actively involving their users in the transformation process. We will examine how placemaking is inspiring new approaches, such as place-led development, multiple value creation, entrepreneurial based placemaking and tactical urbanism. All aimed at turning cities into more human centered places with a high quality of life.

Fee info