In this study, the development of place management, its constituent elements and the management of various public places in the case of İzmir have been investigated. Place management incorporates the effects of place making and place governance. By conducting literature reviews, place management was divided into the sub-topics of place development, place quality and place branding. In the scope of study, three international projects were examined regarding the aforementioned sub-topics, including the Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, New York High Line and Bryant Park. Additionally, in local context, semi-structured interview were conducted with the place managers of three sites in Izmir, all having different management schemes (Balçova Telpher, The Elevator Tower in Karataş and Sasalı Natural Life Park). Suitable infrastructure, a growth-supporting legal climate and the usage of technology are three essential factors for the development of an area. However, place development is also linked directly to the development of high quality places. Besides social and environmental factors, local administrations have to give an opportunity to such development. With good design and development of an area inevitably comes the branding of such a place. To this extent, it is critical to answer the question of how a public place can be successfully managed starting from the design phase. Not only initial costs, but also running costs need to be taken into consideration during this design phase, during implementation and monitoring. Therefore, by applying good place management, it is possible to ensure both internal continuity and the sustainability of its successes.