Over the last few weeks I've talked to several people about advancing their career in Placemaking and Urban Design. Here's a snapshot of what I suggested.

Image - City Square, Swanston Street, Melbourne, VIC, AUS. During this walking tour for one our courses (Introduction to Urban Design and Placemaking) we came across an expert on City Square. He gave us an impromptu briefing on the history of this significant space for Melbourne.

Posted by: Andrew Hammonds

1. What trends are emerging?

Placemaking and Place Management are hot topics - with good reason. Councillors, planners, engineers, shopkeepers, architects, artists, bankers, developers (the list is almost endless) are all contributing to placemaking. With some not even realising it. Like most trends, people wonder if it might fade. I argue that humankind has been creating places for people for 11,000 years, we've lost the mindest and skills in the last 60 with our focus on cars. So we need to relearn skills and techniques which created the places we like. Yes, the trend should fade as we enable people - but this will take some time. 

Urban Design is certainly not a new trend - it gathered momentum in the 70s and 80s. But as Adam Beck from the GBCA said yesterday - it still needs to reach critical mass. So opportunities exist, particularly in - placemaking; Green Star Communities; centre design; and public transport.

2. What do senior people working in the industry suggest?

Ask people in the sector for advice - shout them a coffee. What's happening in the industry? What skills do I need? I continue to benefit from mentors within and outside of the industry. Have a look at my interviews with the experts. At the end I always ask for their advice to graduates. 

We are considering connecting mentors with mentees though our Internet site. Let me know if you are interested. 

3. Are any specialised skills required?

Our blog proposes four skills of placemaking - enabling, facilitating, strategising and designing. How do your skills rate?

In order to call yourself an urban designer you need a mindset of delivering urbanism through buildings, streets and landscape and have training and experience in design - Difference between urban design and urban designer?

Our Place Tools section outlines the tools utilised in the process of Urban Design and Placemaking. Used effectively, they can deliver the high quality urban environment that people are increasingly demanding. In particular:

• Graphics
• A guide to design software

Budding urban designers can improve skills through local drawing classes and computer aided design courses.

Guest bloggers help to broaden the conversation on Placemaking and urban design. 

Image - Laneway off Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC, AUS: keep it focused!

Posted by: Andrew Hammonds

Based on analysing our top blogs, here are our 8 tips.

1. Share useful practical information. Ideas and actions that the reader can apply quickly.
2. Start with the headline. Write something that will pull people into the body of the post.
3. Write a great lead paragraph. Make the topic immediately relevant and explain what people will get in the rest of the post.
4. Use a relevant image. Magazines do it. So do newspapers. Pictures catch the eye and pull people in.
5. Tell a personal story. Nothing works quite like stories. They connect with people and pull them deeper into the content.
6. Make your content scannable. Use short paragraphs, short sentences, and simple words. It's more about quality rather than quantity. 
7. Use bulleted lists. Help people feel a sense of progress.
8. Support your blog with internal and external links. Adds credibility and provides additional information.
9. Invite others into the conversation. End with an open-ended question. And then participate in the discussion.

Share your top tips on writing blogs.

External links

Headlines That Grab Readers by the Eyeballs and Suck Them into Your Message

Written Thursday 10 May, 2013

Placefocus links: Additional Information - Promoting urban design; Place Tools (Additional Information Promoting Urban Design);

Top Placefocus Blogs: Urban Form Glasgow Style - 'The Jeely Piece song'; Transforming NYC streets into places; My Top 10 Places to visit in Perth?; The 4 skills of placemaking

We consistently receive positive feedback about discussion among participants in our training courses in urban design and placemaking. While there are common qualities to the places we like, our own views matter. As suggested by participants, We have started this blog to continue this discussion on-line. The comments section of each blog provides the opportunity, so don't be bashful. Speak up! Particularly if you disagree with us. If you are reading this in our email then click on the hyperlink in the blog heading. This will take you to our website.