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ADVICE FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION



  • Invest your time on the right actors: you might get more engagement from city workers and organization volunteers, and less from residents.

  • Use tools in your favor to rebalance the design ideas and make the process more democratic for the end-users (ex: survey results to influence the debate).

  • Beware of participants with a louder voice. Their ideas don’t always represent the majority.

  • Most people don’t care about design details (materials, landscape, aesthetics).
    Participants don’t know what design they want, but they will know what activities they wish to do.















HIS PLACEMAKING RECIPE







 







  • Make sure your public place is lively at different times of the day/week/month.

  • Think about what activities will make people stay on the site, not just pass by.

  • (For example, an outdoor exhibition space, often proposed to him, might be what the city proposes, but is not what will keep the area lively.)
















WORKSHOP STRUCTURE















Other reflections


  • The common denominator of all my projects: users want spaces to socialize.

  • Commercial spaces! It is an essential element that will allow maintenance of bigger long-term projects (it attracts people and brings $$$).

  • It is truly rewarding to see people come together and become regular users of those spaces. That’s when you know the design answered a variety of needs.































































Credit:
Belleville Placemaking
MCGILL UNIVERSITY
KATIA BROZ
2024