By Stephen Burton | Featuring Dean Cracknell, Town Team Movement
There is a pervasive myth in urban design that improving a public space requires a master plan, a council budget, and three years of consultation.
While major infrastructure needs those things, the “soul” of a place often comes from something much smaller, faster, and cheaper.
In this episode of The Placemakers, I spoke with Dean Cracknell, co-founder of the Town Team Movement, about the rise of “Citizen Placemaking.”
Dean is helping to lead a shift away from top-down bureaucracy toward a model where residents and business owners simply roll up their sleeves and get to work.
His message to aspiring placemakers is simple: Stop over-planning and start doing.
Key Takeaways for Community Leaders:
🎧 Listen to the Episode
We discuss the Ravenswood case study and how to start a movement with zero budget.
📄 Accessibility & Reference
Prefer to read? Download the full word-for-word transcript of this interview.
The Town Team Movement began in the inner suburbs of Northern Perth, born out of a desire to collaborate rather than compete.
Dean explains that while many community groups form to stop things—protesting a development or complaining about council—Town Teams form to start things.
“We act in a translation role,” Dean says. “We sit in between community, government, and professional circles.”
With over 147 teams now operating across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, the movement relies on a strict “Charter of Behavior.” To be a Town Team, you must be apolitical, inclusive, and perhaps most importantly, positive.
When asked what stops people from improving their own streets, Dean identifies a common culprit: the tendency to over-plan.
“Sometimes there’s a tendency to start over-planning and over-analyzing, and the initial enthusiasm dissipates if you’re just sitting around talking,” he explains.
The solution is to lower the barrier to entry. Dean suggests using the “20 Quick Wins” approach.
“Money is always good, but you don’t need money to start off with,” he says.
If you get out with some chalk, or simply organize a meet-up at the pub, you generate visibility. That visibility creates energy, and that energy eventually attracts the funding.
Dean shares a powerful example from Ravenswood, a suburb in Launceston, Tasmania, that struggled with a poor reputation.
A small group wanted to fix a badly graffiti-covered wall near a set of shops. They didn’t hire a consultant; they just bought some paint.
“We got a lot of curious looks,” Dean recalls. “But pretty soon local residents saw that it was making the place look nicer.”
The act of doing caught the attention of a local bus stop contractor who had been quietly volunteering his time for a decade. Inspired by the team’s initiative, he asked how he could help.
“We applied for some grant funding and got a street artist to work with local kids… doing some fantastic designs on these bus stops.”
From one wall painted by volunteers, the project snowballed into a funded art installation that instilled genuine pride in the area.
“Over two years, none of the work we’ve done has been graffiti-ed,” Dean notes.
Dean’s ultimate goal is to “democratize” the knowledge of urban renewal. Through initiatives like Placemaking.Education, the movement provides resources to anyone who wants to improve their patch of the world.
Whether it is a business owner wanting more foot traffic or a resident wanting a safer street, the principle remains the same.
You don’t need permission to care about where you live. And often, you don’t need a master plan to make it better. You just need to start.
Share
View all articles
