Place is more than just a location on a map. A sense of place is a unique collection of qualities and characteristics — visual, cultural, social and environmental — that provide meaning to a location.
Strategic placemaking fo CLARA smart cities
A CLARA smart city must be bustling from day one. As soon as people arrive in a CLARA smart city they must feel it is accessible, interesting, connected and characterful. What is crucial to achieving this, is activation.
In a nutshell, activation is strategic placemaking. It has the same aim to facilitate social interactions and to improve a community’s quality of life as does placemaking, with the added intent to attract new people, businesses and investment.
– The Place Agency
Creating an authentic and vibrant place
As soon as people arrive in a CLARA smart city, we want them to feel that it is a real and authentic place. Activation is an ongoing process that takes time to establish, but by investing in strategic activation, we can accelerate development timelines by attracting more people and business, because we know that both groups want to be in vibrant places.
Our vibrant urban neighbourhoods
A CLARA smart city will be built for future rapid growth and activation will be vital to establishing key components of a vibrant urban neighbourhood, including:
- A centre: A discernible centre, whether it’s the main street or a public space.
- Population density: Enough people for businesses to flourish and for public transit to run frequently.
- Mixed-income, mixed-use: Affordable housing located near businesses.
- Parks and public space: Plenty of public places to gather and play.
- Landmarks and destinations: Places with character and special meaning to local people.
- Pedestrian-friendly design: The neighbourhood is compact, filled with fine-grain details that contribute towards an attractive urban environment.