<p>Placemaking is a widely used concept studied and practised worldwide across a spectrum of sciences and professions. Despite its popularity, there is still a lack of consistent definition and understanding of the term’s meaning, context, and processes. Several studies in various fields have highlighted this ambiguity in the use and interpretation of placemaking. This research article attempts a theoretical exploration of placemaking in the spectrum of spatial planning. It presents a systematic literature review, covering the period from 2000 to 2020 and applies a Computer-Assisted Text Analysis. The software used to recognise the contextual and core elements of placemaking is Voyant Tools. The text analysis produced insights into five areas of focus: identifying key thinkers associated with placemaking, spelling variations of the term, different attributes for placemaking, roles of various actors (labelled here ‘accelerators’ and ‘facilitators’), and the major key elements shaping the concept. The findings suggest that placemaking has certain omnipresent qualities and characteristics from a spatial planning perspective: it involves community participation to different degrees, is a process–based approach with a focus on public space and is evolving along with spatial planning. This paper is potentially an important step in creating an integrated understanding of placemaking and could be useful for future theoretical and practical approaches.</p>