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The purpose of this paper is to propose PlaceMaker as a method of urban analysis and design which both detects elements that do not feature in traditional mapping and which constitute the contemporary identity of the places, and identifies appropriate project interventions. In order to illustrate the method's potential, the final results of experimentation carried out in the Ramblas in Barcelona are presented.

The proposed method gathers, processes and reconstructs the data deriving from nominal, perceptual, graphic, photographic and video surveys, and compares these data with those provided by an analysis of expectations, an analysis of traditional cartography and two questionnaires administered to local inhabitants. The information collected during the phases of analysis constitutes the basis for constructing guidelines for sustainable design and planning. Two final complex maps – the first of analysis and the second of design – respectively, represent the identity of places and project interventions.

The design orientations took into account liveability, place identity, safety of this place and user preferences in order to mitigate the impact of globalization and achieve sustainable urban development. The experiment shows that the urban identity emerging in the analysis phases is not entirely sustainable: many factors are contributing to transforming it not only through changes in places, but also in habits and perceptions of the huge flow of people who use the Ramblas. The actions proposed are thus designed to enhance the identity of places, albeit not crystallizing it.

PlaceMaker is an original method which is intended for use as a support tool in integrated sustainable project design targeting place identity and as a tool for dynamic and complex place knowledge. The main potential beneficiaries are administrators, urban planners and designers and, in simplified form, citizens, tourists and place users.

The purpose of this article is to present a research project on public libraries in urban development focusing on how libraries contribute to culture‐led urban regeneration as icons, placemakers and community vitalization.

The research project is based on case studies of new “cutting‐edge” public libraries in Europe and North America. These case studies have been conducted through analysis of documents, observation and qualitative interviews with key informants.

The article finds that new public libraries have re‐conceptualized their design, brand and functions as an answer to strategies of culture‐led urban regeneration, and at the same time they have actively contributed to urban development by changing the image and identity of urban places, contributing to urban diversity and addressing social and economic problems.

The article provides a framework for development of strategies and legitimization for public libraries and a point of departure for the discussion of the library's contribution to urban development.

This is the first public presentation of the findings of the results of the research project Public Libraries in Urban Development – Creativity, Innovation and Experience outside the Nordic countries.

THE PLACEMAKER'S GUIDE TO BUILDING COMMUNITY

Nabeel Hamdi's new book The Placemakers' Guide to Building Community (ISBN 978-1-84407-803-5) published by Earthscan is a very useful book which should be on the shelves of every person involved in building communities and the art of development practices. The outside back cover has a number of short statements which reveal that Nabeel has made a place for himself at the pinnacle of participatory planning and “.….has masterfully woven together notions of place making that have evolved since John Turmer's book, Housing by People, into a new paradigm for professional practice” says Bish Sanyal, Ford International Professor of Urban Development and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

Companies use figures within the annual report to send messages. The purpose of this paper is to explore the opinions and understandings of annual report preparers who produce the figures and users who interpret them. The focus is on figures that the authors consider convey messages about the company's intellectual capital (IC).

The paper used a questionnaire to obtain the opinions of “informed investors” and conducted interviews with the preparers of the annual reports. It compared the opinions of the two respondent groups.

Preparers and users bring multiple meanings to the figures. Users overlooked some messages which were complex and symbolic and also perceived more messages than intended by the preparers. The two respondent groups generally perceived brands, corporate image building and aspects related to employees as the IC items best portrayed in the selected figures. Most users and some preparers perceived the main reason for using figures was their strength as a marketing tool.

The paper is exploratory in nature and there is scope to extend the work to a greater number of annual reports and/or figures. The research is limited by the use of students as a proxy for users of annual reports.

The findings may be helpful to annual report preparers in understanding the rhetorical impact of images. Such understanding will help them in choosing figures which are effective and persuasive when seeking user engagement.

The authors are not aware of any prior research that examines the perceptions of preparers and users in respect of messages conveyed through figures, and, in particular, research that incorporates aspects of IC in corporate annual report figures. The paper, therefore, extends the empirical literature on IC.

This study aims to address the research gap about value in the holistic discourse of creative placemaking. It identifies and synthesises the often discounted social and environmental values of creative placemaking along with typically emphasised economic values.

This paper builds upon two research phases; first, a review and extraction of creative placemaking value indicators from relevant current urban, cultural and planning literature; and second, the identification of relevant, practice-based, value indicators through interviews with 23 placemaking experts including practitioners, urban planners, developers and place managers from the two largest cities of NSW, Australia; Sydney and Newcastle.

This study identifies three broad thematics for valuing creative placemaking along with several sub-categories of qualitative and quantitative indicators. These indicators reveal the holistic value of creative placemaking for its key stakeholders, including expert placemakers, designers, building developers, government and community groups. A key conclusion of the research is the need for tools that grasp the interconnected, and at times conflicting, nature of placemaking’s social, economic and environmental outcomes.

While a variety of value indicators exist to understand the need for ongoing resourcing of creative placemaking, stakeholders identified the limitations of current approaches to determine, represent and appraise the value of creative placemaking. The indicators of value proposed in this research consolidate and extend current discourse about the value of creative placemaking specifically. The indicators themselves have profound practical implications for how creative placemaking is conceived, executed and evaluated. Theoretically, the study builds on the deep relationships between values and practice in creative placemaking, as well as critiquing narrow forms of evaluation that entrench economic benefits over other outcomes.

The purpose of this article is to study how public libraries argue for the inclusion of non-traditional library collections and to identify public library objectives related to these collections.

The data was collected through a Web survey which was sent to public library managers in all Swedish municipalities. Data were analyzed using a model in which public library practices are divided into three categories relating to the public library’s goals, activities and tools.

Three different main arguments are used to support the introduction of non-traditional collections: as a contribution to public library goals or activities to attract non-users and as the result of external requests or needs. Through analysis of the survey results, the public library’s common goal, a socially sustainable society, was identified. Other library goals identified were an environmentally sustainable society and an improved library.

The results may inspire practitioners to reflect upon how non-traditional collections are related to library goals and activities and what consequences their inclusion may have for the library. For example, if non-traditional collections are used only to attract new users, there is a risk of creating expectations that the library cannot live up to.

Today, focus is placed on the conditions for public libraries in the digital world. It is easy to overlook the importance of non-traditional library collections, and the role they fulfill. This article draws attention to these collections and their possible consequences for public libraries.

The provision of home and community supports can enable people to successfully age-in-place by improving physical and mental health, supporting social participation and enhancing independence, autonomy and choice. One challenge concerns the integration of place-based supports available as older people transition into affordable housing. Sustainable solutions need to be developed and implemented with the full involvement of communities, service organizations and older people themselves. Partnership building is an important component of this process. The purpose of this paper is to detail the intricacies of developing partnerships with low-income older people, local service providers and nonprofit housing associations in the context of a Canadian housing development.

A community-based participatory approach was used to inform the data collection and partnership building process. The partnership building process progressed through a series of democratized committee meetings based on the principles of appreciative inquiry, four collaboration cafés with nonprofit housing providers and four community mapping workshops with low-income older people. Data collection also involved 25 interviews and 15 photovoice sessions with the housing tenants. The common aims of partnership and data collection were to understand the challenges and opportunities experienced by older people, service providers and nonprofit housing providers; identify the perspectives of service providers and nonprofit housing providers for the provision and delivery of senior-friendly services and resources; and determine actions that can be undertaken to better meet the needs of service providers and nonprofit housing providers in order to help them serve older people better.

The partnership prioritized the generation of a shared vision together with shared values, interests and the goal of co-creating meaningful housing solutions for older people transitioning into affordable housing. Input from interviews and photovoice sessions with older people provided material to inform decision making in support of ageing well in the right place. Attention to issues of power dynamics and knowledge generation and feedback mechanisms enable all fields of expertise to be taken into account, including the experiential expertise of older residents. This resulted in functional, physical, psychological and social aspects of ageing in place to inform the new build housing complex.

The time and effort required to conduct democratized partnerships slowed the decision-making process.

The findings confirm that the drive toward community partnerships is a necessary process in supporting older people to age well in the right place. This requires sound mechanisms to include the voice of older people themselves alongside other relevant stakeholders. Ageing well in a housing complex requires meaningful placemaking to include the functional, physical, psychological and social aspects of older people’s everyday life in respect to both home and community.