Turning Empty Spaces Into Inviting Places

Imagine a lonely alleyway, or unloved park, or bare concrete space. How much time do you want to spend there?

Now imagine an alleyway with light and art. A park with seating and shade. An open space with colour and a bit of humour. What do these embellishments have in common? They draw people to spend time somewhere they would otherwise pass by.

There are spaces all over Edmonton, Canada that need a fun, quick, temporary, low-cost makeover. They need imagination, effort and hands.

In spring 2015, Make Something Edmonton and City of Edmonton's CITYlab asked Edmontonians to stage dozens of small creative experiments – often called tactical urbanism, pop-up urbanism, urban intervention or temporary placemaking – around Edmonton. The intent was to highlight opportunities for improvement and bring delight to previously ignored spaces.

This video shows a small selection of citizen-led projects that happened on June 21, 2015.

To learn more about how citizens stepped-up, read about DIYcity on our blog.

This is just the beginning! Launch your own placemaking project and use the DIYcity hashtag when you share it.