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This paper investigates how the project development of Wapping Wharf in Bristol impacted the dwellers’ well-being. It finds that the relationship between urban placemaking and dwellers’ wellbeing is not just constitutive, but also mutually reinforcing. Sincere communications between the producers and the users of urban places have promoted better placemaking and resident wellbeing enhancement; the paper thus suggests that factors that can facilitate sincere communications should be prioritized in post-pandemic placemaking.
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Target audience
Council officials, planners, developers, community managers, and the professionals in planning and practice.
The problem
The way in which the living environment is designed has profound influences on inhabitants’ well-being; unfortunately, how exactly new developments should be designed to deliver positive impacts on dwellers’ wellbeing remains unclear. This is happening against the backdrop of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which has exerted more stress on human wellbeing, stimulating greater discussions on how to reframe planning practice to accommodate this assemblage.
What we did and why
We join this discussion using a case study approach to investigate how the project development of Wapping Wharf in Bristol, United Kingdom, has impacted the dwellers’ well-being and to what extent their actions altered the living environment, aiming to provoke more thoughts on how new development should be designed to enhance wellbeing in post-pandemic planning. Qualitative research methods of interviews, site observation and further literature review are employed in this paper to achieve the research aim.
Our study’s contribution
We affirm the significances of some contributors to human wellbeing enhancement in urban placemaking including greenspaces, walkability, and healthy eating, etc. The relationship between urban placemaking and dwellers’ wellbeing is not just constitutive as suggested in existing literature review, but also mutually reinforcing. While previous research on the assemblage of placemaking and wellbeing has largely focused the former (placemaking), we suggest the future assemblage work extend to the later (dweller wellbeing).
Impacts for city policy and practice
We advocate that the format of mix-used property development to enhance walkability, the incorporation of virtual flatforms with physical design, the provision of supportive amenities to enable more and easier access to health eating are good strategies to accommodate the call for better assemblage between urban placemaking and human wellbeing in post-pandemic planning. Fundamentally, factors that facilitate sincere communications between the producers and the users of urban places should be prioritized in post-pandemic place-making.
Further information
Full research article:
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