What is Place Visioning?

Place Visioning is a strategic process that occurs before design and construction. According to Tom Payne, it helps developers determine the purpose, target audience, and unique 'ingredients' of a site to ensure it is marketable and socially successful.

What is the Place Economy?

The Place Economy is the concept that better social outcomes lead to better financial returns. When a place is designed well for people, it attracts visitors, retains commercial tenants, and builds a positive reputation, which ultimately drives profit.

How does placemaking relate to gentrification?

Placemaking is often negatively associated with gentrification and pushing communities out. Tom Payne argues that to avoid this, strategies must identify and enhance what already works in a community, rather than replacing it, and communicate a cohesive vision clearly to the public.

The 'The Economics of Placemaking’': why social success drives commercial profit

Ask five different people what “placemaking” means, and you will likely get five different answers. Is it a vegetable garden? A mural? A street party?

For Tom Payne, Partner and Place Strategy Director at Hoyne, placemaking is far more than temporary activation. It is a rigorous economic strategy.

In this episode of The Placemakers, I spoke with Tom about his journey from campaigning for skate parks in Sydney to advising on major international precincts. We dive into Hoyne’s concept of “Place Visioning” - the strategic gap between government policy and architectural design.

Tom argues that for developers, creating a “place” isn’t just a nice-to-have. It is the defining factor in whether a project creates a legacy or becomes a ghost town.

Key Takeaways for Developers & Designers:

The “Place Economy”: There is a direct link between social outcomes and financial return. If people love a place, tenants stay longer, and the asset value increases.
Place Visioning: Before design begins, you need a strategy. Who is this for? What is the point of difference? This “vision” guides the architecture, retail, and branding.
The Gentrification Trap: As seen in the Camden Lock Market project, a lack of cohesive vision can lead to community backlash, even if the development intent is high-quality.

🎧 Listen to the Episode
We explore how to turn a “development” into a “destination” and the hard lessons learned from London regeneration projects.

[Listen on Spotify]

📄 Accessibility & Reference
Prefer to read? Download the full word-for-word transcript of this interview.

[Download Transcript (PDF)]

The Gap Between "Selling" and "Creating"

Tom’s entry into the world of strategy began with a realization that the property industry was doing things backward.

“Andy Hoyne founded the company originally in property branding and marketing,” Tom explains. “But he found there was often nothing to market; developers would say ‘sell this,’ but they hadn’t created anything distinctive.”

This is where Place Visioning was born.

Instead of applying a brand logo at the end of construction, Place Visioning comes in at the very beginning. It acts as a framework to decide the “ingredients” of the precinct from the architectural style and open spaces to the curation of retail and interiors.

“It fills the gap between the macro level [planning policy] and design,” Tom says.

Why Social Success = Commercial Success

Approximately 70% of Hoyne’s work is for the private sector. In this high-stakes environment, “fluffy” concepts don’t survive. The argument for placemaking must be economic.
Tom advocates for the “Place Economy.” The logic is simple but often overlooked:

“If people are happy, tenants stay longer, employees are happier. The place gets a better reputation. The legacy of the company improves.”

People, essentially, are the strongest brand ambassadors a developer can have. By focusing on the “social success” of a precinct -creating a space where people actually want to spend time - the commercial success follows naturally.

“It’s trying to convince [developers] that by doing better things… they’ll actually make more money.”

Lessons from London: The Camden Lock Market

Placemaking, however, is not without its perils. Tom shares a candid example from his time working on the Camden Lock Market project in London around 2011.

The project aimed for a nuanced upgrade rather than a massive floor-space uplift. However, it triggered a significant anti-gentrification protest.

“Community got hold of some of the plans… [and] it just started this protest movement,” Tom recalls. “It spoke to community perceptions of what you’re trying to do versus reality.”

The failure wasn’t necessarily in the design, but in the lack of a cohesive narrative. The team failed to communicate a clear vision that respected what already existed.

“I think that one failed because there was a lack of cohesion… We couldn’t clearly tell the community about what the aspirational outcome would be.”

This serves as a critical reminder for modern urban designers: You must understand what currently works in a place before you try to improve it. If the community feels they are being pushed out rather than invited in, no amount of branding will save the project.