International Placemaking Week 2026

In 2016, the Project for Public Spaces (@PPS_Placemaking) started the International Placemaking Week conference. Since then, the conference has been an on-and-off-again event, but when held, it has drawn over 400 attendees. This year’s conference will be held June 24-26 in Detroit, Michigan.

Even if you can’t make it to Detroit this year, it’s still a good week to work on placemaking in your community. It’s a good time to take a look at your community’s gathering spaces through another lens. What adjustments to these areas can make them more welcoming, more interesting to those who visit?

Read Up on the Subject

Rural Resurrection has provided a few posts over the years on placemaking as it is an important aspect that can affect tourism, resident/business attraction, and overall resident happiness and retention. Some of these posts are:

• What is Placemaking?
• Nebraska’s Creative Districts
• The Pop-Up Placemaking Tool Kit
• Regent knows Art is Key in Placemaking

Additionally, here are a few more articles on placemaking on other sites:

Halifax – A Waterfront That Does It Well – by the Social Life Project

Public Art and Creative Placemaking Plan – An ArcGIS Storymaps plan document for the City of Wisconsin Rapids

Some Good Placemaking I’ve Seen in the Past Year

Over the past year, I have had the chance to witness placemaking in various forms. All of which has helped create a sense of place for the communities where they’re placed. Here are a few examples: