Place making engagement: hitting the street or setting up shop?

Having had the time to think about last week's GoGarnock Charrette event, one thing that's become clear is that the days of expecting people to come to you in engagement may be numbered. Faced with a very low turnout at some of the key workshops over the three days and different host towns, the volunteers needed to hit the streets in starting conversations with the public about their place.


This requires a certain bearing and skills on the part of the volunteer. However, the more active approach did seem to make it easier to reach a broader cross section of people. Unsurprisingly, my most in depth conversations about place with local people were in the comfortable setting of one of the local coffee shops. Considering my previous posts on 'sustainable engagement' and advocating the benefits of long term dialogue over an event based model, I cant help but wonder whether planners should themselves be 'setting up shop' in  the places which have the most difficult place shaping challenges.


Are the days of engagement in the town hall or sports centre becoming numbered?