OFC and V&A Waterfront Host a Placemaking Conversation with Ramon Marrades of Placemaking Europe

Our Future Cities partnered with the V&A Waterfront to bring together Ramon Marrades (Director at Placemaking Europe), Jennie Kovalcik (Public Sphere Projects), and local placemaking leaders and partners. The gathering focused on how placemaking is evolving from short-term, tactical interventions into a systemic practice that drives long-term municipal strategies and community-led regeneration.

Ramon Marrades presented the  work of Placemaking Europe and how cities are collaborating across departments to tackle complex challenges.

Ramon Marrades, Director of Placemaking Europe, spoke about the evolution of placemaking from tactical, localised interventions into a more systemic practice for urban change. Drawing on his experience in Valencia, Barcelona and European placemaking networks, he described Placemaking Europe as a platform that supports practitioners working with communities, public administrations and cities across the continent. His presentation highlighted the importance of moving beyond isolated projects towards embedding placemaking within policy, governance, municipal practice and long-term urban strategy. Through initiatives such as Placemaking Week Europe and Cities in Placemaking, Ramon showed how placemaking can help cities work across departments, support public-sector innovators and respond to complex challenges such as loneliness, climate recovery, housing, public-space conflict and social cohesion.

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"We release that for us, it [Placemaking] was fantastic as an umbrella concept" - Ramon Marrades

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Rashiq Fataar shared Our Future Cities' Q1 Update, testing whether public space design can act as the primary catalyst for urban renewal.

Rashiq Fataar, CEO of Our Future Cities, presented the company’s Q1 2026 Placemaking and Urban Design Update, positioning placemaking as a growing portfolio of OFC’s work across regeneration, safety, public life, urban heat and place performance. The presentation moved from a “Place Weather Report” on the conditions shaping placemaking, to recent learning from Milan’s Olympic Boulevard, the rise of place-based partnerships in Helsinki, Cape Town and Somerset West, and community placemaking projects in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu that link public space improvements to safety and local pride. It also highlighted OFC’s Johannesburg regeneration work, which is testing whether placemaking can lead urban renewal rather than simply follow it. Fataar concluded by introducing OFC’s evolving place-performance framework, focused on heart, mind, stewardship, people, design and wider social context.

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If you would like to learn more, get in touch: team@ourfuturecities.co