A place on its own rarely has any sense of identity or definition. It always needs a descriptor or an adjective to define it. The same is true when we talk about physical space. It is defined by what fills it. There is a strange duality in how we discuss and value it.

While a place already exists by virtue of our physical world, creative practices constantly find themselves embroiled in a conversation about having to create a place, find a place, and belong to a place. With the proliferation of our digital world, the idea of non-place being able to occupy space has become even more relevant. It underpins the need to identify the place as a defined parameter. Placemaking may seem like an act restricted to the creative industry.

As disciplines continue to blur their boundaries of practice, a unique interconnectedness emerges, one that reinforces placemaking as more than a mere act of making. In this week's issue, Philippe Fouché of SAOTA alludes to the importance of "being out of place" as a "response to the context". 'The New Brownies' Book' engenders a place for Black joy and emancipation, hoping for young Black people to find their place in the world.

This week's features push for an empirical shift in how we visualise where and how the living collective belongs. How do we define belonging or being out of place ecologically, psychologically and spatially?