Always wanted to activate spaces around you but do not know how to go about doing so? Here are some placemaking stories, lessons and tips to get you started.
This article is adapted from URA’s placemaking book, How to Make a Great Place (PDF, 12.9MB).
Placemaking is a way of thinking and a process where communities and stakeholders come together to proactively create, shape and sustain great public places around us, whether it is a park, a street, a small corner, a void deck, an entire neighbourhood or precinct, to benefit the area and communities.
Placemaking also seeks to deepen our connection to places and one another. From around 2010, there has been a growing network of active communities working on placemaking efforts in Singapore, and many public spaces have taken on greater life and meaning as a result.
These placemaking efforts have grown in scale and impact over the years. In the initial days, placemakers mostly experimented with simpler ideas. With time and experience, these have evolved to include more regular space and street activations, with some leading to permanent enhancements.
Below, we showcase a range of placemaking stories from over the years and share some lessons learned and tips. Hopefully, this can inspire more people to get started on shaping public spaces around us!
First featured at PARK(ing) Day 2014 and 2015, ping pong tables and pianos were the two temporary experiments that took off. Inspired by the positive public responses, the groups went on to set up more ping pong tables and pianos at various public spaces around Singapore.
Calling their initiative, KamPONG, local environmental company, Innoverde, saw this as a way to celebrate the kampung spirit with a friendly game of ping pong. During the i Light Marina Bay festival at the Marina Bay promenade in March 2016, over 25,000 people stopped to play ping pong, based on Innoverde’s count. The tables were also set up at other locations such as Asia Square, Raffles Place, and the Civic District.
KamPONG initiative at PARK(ing) Day.
The other group, Play it Forward, started in 2015 to activate public spaces by making used pianos accessible to the public
“At the start, the public needed some encouragement to overcome their apprehension of playing music in public. Once we started to play, many gradually warmed up to the idea,” said Yan Chang, one of the co-founders of Play it Forward and URA architect. The two other founders are his friends, Billy Soh and Jean Hair.
“We were so happy to see complete strangers coming together and bonding over music. And to see that our pianos are able to meet the needs of a diverse group of people, ranging from children who absolutely enjoy playing in public, to adults simply looking for a quiet place to play.”
The pianos under the “Play it Forward” initiative are located at 11 public spaces across Singapore.
Closing and activating streets has become a very familiar feature in our urban scape. In fact, many of us are likely to have fond memories of street festivals. Such street activations and car-free zones enable us to not only experience a more intimate street atmosphere, it also creates spill-over spaces for business and social activities and interactions and makes our streets more vibrant and inviting.
One of the key champions for street closures was Lorenzo Petrillo – founder of Singapore-based urban design studio LOPELAB – who organised 11 street festival editions at Keong Saik and Jiak Chuan Roads, together with his team from LOPELAB, from 2016 to 2019. His many street closures helped to raise greater awareness and interest on the importance and value of such efforts. His various editions also attracted more sponsorships and created a wider range of programming and activities.
“In my experience, what public events do is not only transform a public space and show how to enjoy it in a different way, but also get people to socialise,” said Lorenzo.
In fact, his efforts have brought the businesses of Keong Saik together. “I’m excited because some of the other stakeholders want to do stuff too, asking can I do a bakery class?
Another lady wants to do a workshop on cutting clothes. An Indian restaurant will bring Bollywood dancers. So, you see how all these cultures come together.”
Beyond temporary street activations, individuals and stakeholders have also contributed towards more permanent enhancements in creating more walkable and delightful streets in the city centre.
In 2014 and 2017, URA and other government agencies such as the National Heritage Board and Land Transport Authority collaborated with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts students to paint and design new public benches on the wider sidewalks along Queen and Bencoolen Streets.
These were part of the larger efforts to create more walkable streets in the Bras Basah.Bugis area that included widening the sidewalks and reducing the road lanes, for example.
These public benches made it more enjoyable to walk around the area, which has evolved into a vibrant art, heritage and learning enclave from the 1990s.
Public benches at Bencoolen Street. Image credit: NAFA
Another meaningful initiative due to active stakeholders was the pedestrianisation of Armenian Street.
The street used to be a four-lane road that had not been heavily used for some time. Over time, it had been turned into a lively street in the evenings, filled with temporary activities and events organised by stakeholders such as the Peranakan Museum, that is managed by the National Heritage Board.
The stakeholders at first saw the potential for road dieting to widen the previously narrow sidewalks. From 2015 to 2018, stakeholders along the street and various government agencies (URA, National Parks Board) explored possibilities and options, leading to the eventual permanent pedestrianisation in 2019.
Transformed Armenian Street today.
Inspired by the stories and interested to get started to activate a space/place or to do something to shape spaces around you? Here are 10 things to think about:
In addition, find out and seek the necessary permissions from the authorities and/or venue owners to implement your ideas. You can research and check if there are any support schemes or grants to help realise your ideas. For community-driven placemaking projects, you may refer to the Lively Places programme to see if your project qualifies for funding. There may also be other programmes and funds from other public agencies (such as Singapore Tourism Board, National Arts Council, National Heritage Board), depending on the nature of your ideas.