Description: "In the wake of the Great Recession, American cities from Philadelphia to San Diego saw an upsurge in hyperlocal placemaking-small-scale interventions aimed at encouraging greater equity and community engagement in growth and renewal. Michael H. Carriere and David Schalliol's study of micro-interventions at more than 200 sites in 39 cities combines archival research, participant observation, interviews, site visits, and powerful documentary photography. They find that formal and informal placemaking has become firmly entrenched as a mid-level policy bridging local community development with regional economic master plans, and they provide a kaleidoscopic overview of how such initiatives grow-and sometimes collapse"--
Brief description:
Michael H. Carriere is associate professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Review Quotes: "An unprecedented and refreshing history of creative placemaking, from the postwar era to the recent aftermath of the Great Recession. Carriere and Schalliol carefully examine the concept of sociability through the evolution of placemaking, describing how the latter expressed and negotiated tensions between individual identity and communal belonging. With compelling photography and hundreds of examples, the authors skillfully unravel a double narrative that characterizes placemaking and urban planning in contemporary American cities. . . . The City Creative is an exciting invitation to look past outdated practices of trickle-down urban development. The book offers a much needed and long overdue history of placemaking that acknowledges its shortcomings, incorporates more inclusive ideas, and celebrates novel practices. With honesty, rigor, and remarkable visual appeal, Carriere and Schalliol encourage readers to seek more holistic outcomes and benefits that can be distributed equitably. In doing so, they recast placemaking in a broader, more generous light."-- "Journal of Planning History"