"I have a confession to make: I have no idea what placemaking is"

Discussions about planning and urbanism are awash with talk of "placemaking" but the term remains strangely and troublingly opaque, writes Reinier de Graaf.UK housing secretary Michael Gove is backing the creation of a new "School of Place"; the city of San Francisco has adopted a placemaking ordinance called "Places for People"; Edinburgh Council has invited the public to participate in a "placemaking consultation". Vancouver organizes a "Placemaking Week"; Bangalore has a "Placemaking Weekend"