The literature on sustainability policies and placemaking strategies reveals the inadequacy of both concepts to address current urban issues suggesting the need for new approaches. Sustainability researchers and policy makers are seeking an integrated approach to sustainability within which placemaking is a powerful tool in achieving sustainability goals. However, despite this rising awareness of place and its value, there is growing concern that the value of place and its urban meaning is declining. Placemaking appears to have changed from being an authentic everyday practice to a professional responsibility, and the understanding of the intangible character of place is mainly lost in the modern making of places. The emphasis of designers on physical design attributes assumes a fragile model of causality, underestimating the other necessary components for placemaking—behaviour and meaning. Comparing models of sustainability and place, this article suggests that there is need for a shift from the current model of placemaking towards a strong model of progress and balance in creating quality places. The article also describes the implications of the new model for design practice and how it could be used with the goal of achieving both placemaking and sustainability visions.

Place as a theory fails to clearly articulate linkages between meaning and physical settings for chosen activities in public space. In addressing these issues, the meaning of user behaviour in public space is described by affective and cognitive images of the physical setting; a theoretical conceptualisation of individual experiences which include overlapping social, cultural, and educational contexts. The results of a survey of 160 users across four public spaces found that affect framed cognitive evaluations of design elements for anticipated behaviour. A two-stage process suggesting place-making in design need to shift emphases from articulating preferences to enabling interpretation and opportunity. Within this theoretical framework, the argument is presented that a focus on aligning design with public expectation at a point in time will lead to temporal popularity of location, to popular places that will be presented for redevelopment at some future point in time when their popularity declines.

In city centres where public space is at a premium, checklists and images of design quality attributes generated from observations of successful public spaces are increasingly being utilised in designs of new or refurbished areas. This replication assumes the success and popularity of these elements will generalise to other locations. However, the accuracy and reliability of observations in using current methods of behaviour mapping can miss important details in the small and often crowded successful public spaces. Coding of time interval photographic records of public spaces in Geographic Information System (GIS) is introduced as a data collection methodology for mapping and analysing behaviour. The results indicate that actualised affordance is a function of the spatial configuration of design elements with respect to the number of users, the availability of choice, climate (sun and shade), and the enclosure and exposure of design elements within subspaces. Although design elements are selected for their potential affordance, actualised affordance is defined by the configuration within which elements are embedded in a specific location.

<p>An increasing similarity in urban designs negatively impacts on urban space through a loss of meaning. Although the importance of meaning is stressed in the literature, this aspect of urban space has been neglected in the recent past at a time when sustainable development is also needed. A review of literature reveals that natural elements within physical settings have meaning for people and that the meanings are socially constructed by the users of the spaces. The contribution of meaning, activity, and physical elements in urban space is described in the Theory of Place. Investigating the affordance of these three components in the sustained use of small urban spaces in a city centre, where public space is at a premium and compatibility of design elements a pre‐requisite, forms the focus of this study. This research aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by using the Theory of Place to assess natural design elements in small urban spaces. An investigation of theory, design characteristics and activity was conducted in four small urban spaces in the city centre of Wellington, New Zealand. The investigation used structured surveys with a facet approach, and photographic observation and GIS mapping of behaviour to answer the research question: Is it possible that natural design elements in public spaces influence the sustained use of a place? In addition, if observations of sustained use are related to natural design elements, is there a theoretical basis for this assertion and can it be examined through research? To answer these questions Study One examines the linkages between physical setting, social activity and meaning by investigating the behavioural and cognitive‐affective affordance of natural elements. With the results indicating a preference for natural over artificial design elements, Study Two investigated more closely how natural and artificial elements combine in design and which physical elements are likely to have strong links with other components of place. Study Three tests the validity of the theoretical findings of the initial studies by mapping user’s behaviour in small urban spaces. The convergence of the theoretical and observational research results emphasises the advantages of using both approaches in an investigation of place. Investigation of the link between meaning and activity through observation is an inferential interpretation which gives rise to the need to use complementary theoretical research with reliable predictive power. While designers should consider theory in design they should also be aware of the practical importance of creating meaningful combinations of design elements that meet the diverse needs and changing users and uses over time.</p>

<p>An increasing similarity in urban designs negatively impacts on urban space through a loss of meaning. Although the importance of meaning is stressed in the literature, this aspect of urban space has been neglected in the recent past at a time when sustainable development is also needed. A review of literature reveals that natural elements within physical settings have meaning for people and that the meanings are socially constructed by the users of the spaces. The contribution of meaning, activity, and physical elements in urban space is described in the Theory of Place. Investigating the affordance of these three components in the sustained use of small urban spaces in a city centre, where public space is at a premium and compatibility of design elements a pre‐requisite, forms the focus of this study. This research aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by using the Theory of Place to assess natural design elements in small urban spaces. An investigation of theory, design characteristics and activity was conducted in four small urban spaces in the city centre of Wellington, New Zealand. The investigation used structured surveys with a facet approach, and photographic observation and GIS mapping of behaviour to answer the research question: Is it possible that natural design elements in public spaces influence the sustained use of a place? In addition, if observations of sustained use are related to natural design elements, is there a theoretical basis for this assertion and can it be examined through research? To answer these questions Study One examines the linkages between physical setting, social activity and meaning by investigating the behavioural and cognitive‐affective affordance of natural elements. With the results indicating a preference for natural over artificial design elements, Study Two investigated more closely how natural and artificial elements combine in design and which physical elements are likely to have strong links with other components of place. Study Three tests the validity of the theoretical findings of the initial studies by mapping user’s behaviour in small urban spaces. The convergence of the theoretical and observational research results emphasises the advantages of using both approaches in an investigation of place. Investigation of the link between meaning and activity through observation is an inferential interpretation which gives rise to the need to use complementary theoretical research with reliable predictive power. While designers should consider theory in design they should also be aware of the practical importance of creating meaningful combinations of design elements that meet the diverse needs and changing users and uses over time.</p>