Crowdsourced Placemaking

Description

"Despite the name, this is no Kickstarter Urbanism, where the citizen buys into into a vague concept (reality uncertain). Crowdsourced Placemaking functions firmly in creating realities.

As Brandon Palanker, VP of Renaissance Downtowns, a real estate development company using crowdsourced placemaking to redesign the town of Bristol, Connecticut, shared with me, their process is all about using social media and technology to bring community members into the planning conversation – from the very beginning.

They have created a social-media site, Bristol Rising, where community members can suggest and vote on (“like”) certain ideas they’d like to see implemented in their community (a Restaurant Row, a Literary Café, a Beer Garden, etc.). Renaissance then analyzes the most popular items and, through monthly meet-ups, engages the community in an open, meaningful dialogue about what is feasible." (http://www.designbyhidekazu.com/urban/can-you-crowdsource-a-city/)