Today, many hundreds of the city’s horse rings are adorned with small horses and the like, placed by countless, random individuals playing their own small role in something larger than themselves.

Placemaking is not a design endeavor. Or a business proposition. Or a public health pursuit. Or an equity concern. Or an avenue for culture and the arts. It’s all of these things.

Writing about successful neighborhood planning, my friend and colleague Howard Blackson used the term “placeshaker” as a catch-all for the grass roots engagement efforts that empower, but don’t necessarily define, placemaking. That got me thinking...