Walking as Placemaking

Insights from a walker Words by Ellen Sharpe

Walking, in its simplest form, is an act of joy. A celebration of movement that opens the door to understanding our surroundings. It can be both a profound experience and a gentle reminder of our place within the world.

Place is ever becoming and should be considered a rich patina of time and countless unfolding experiences and knowledges. Each layer tells its own story, best appreciated not through plans or photographs, but through the act of walking. To truly know a landscape is to immerse oneself in it over time. Place embodies all. Familiarity with place develops gradually, much like our relationships with people, each visit adds depth to our understanding, allowing us to connect on a more intimate level.

Esteemed geographer Doreen Massey eloquently states that place consists of “articulated moments in networks of social relations and understandings” meaning the essence of a place extends beyond its physical boundaries. British Anthropologist Tim Ingold suggests that:

“Place owes its character to the experiences it affords to those who spend time there – to the sights, sounds and indeed smells that constitute its specific ambience....it’s this relational context of people’s engagement with the world....that each place draws its unique significance.” 

When walking the same route across different seasons, you experience the shifts in the land and, indeed, in yourself. Your personal rhythms harmonise with the cadence of the environment, demonstrating how walking can be a powerful, embodied practice of place. Each step we take weaves us deeper into the fabric of our surroundings, our observations, interactions and acts of reciprocity of place (what we give place and what place gives us). 

Experiencing this practice alongside a community elevates the act of walking to something even more transformative. A shared journey becomes a powerful tool for collective placemaking. It not only tells the story of a place but enriches it, intertwining multiple voices and perspectives into a unified narrative. The act of walking becomes a force that fosters strong relationships between people and place, building agency that encourages us to act rather than just observe.

There’s a fascinating physiological aspect to this: walking prompts our brains to release the perfect recipe of beneficial chemicals. Serotonin calms our anxiety; dopamine enhances creativity and our drive to explore meaning; anandamide encourages lateral thinking; and norepinephrine improves focus and emotional stability. Walking also quiets the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain often bogged down by judgment and self-doubt, paving the way for a state of flow, one that lifts our mood and enhances overall wellbeing.

Interestingly, this side effect of walking is also a fundamental facilitator of good placemaking. A relaxed prefrontal cortex, combined with increased levels of dopamine and anandamide, expands our perspective. It loosens the constraints of habitual thinking, enabling us to see a place, and our relationship with it, in a new light. This shift sparks purpose, not an abstract desire to "make a difference," but an embodied awareness that we are intrinsically connected to a place, empowering us to act on its behalf.

Walking, then, is not merely a means of deepening our understanding of our surroundings; it chemically reconfigures us into active participants capable of enacting change. So, lace up your shoes and step into the rhythm of your surroundings – because walking could be where your placemaking journey begins!