Hee's a bit more description:
A charrette is an intensive, multi-disciplinary planning process. It is designed to facilitate an open
discussion between all of the stakeholders of a given development project, including architects,
community groups, developers and neighbors. A charrette is usually a short process, from 3-4 days
to 2 weeks long, resulting in a clear, detailed, realistic vision for development.
There are three main parts to a charrette:

Exploration and Issue Identification: Stakeholders and design professionals meet to explore the
area (e.g., building, site, neighborhood) and discuss issues that the stakeholders feel are important
to the development.
Design: Design professionals create a few different schematic images to represent numerous design solutions that take into consideration the issues that the stakeholders discussed in step one: building typology, design elements, green spaces, landscaping, parking, recreation, traffic, safety, sustainable development and water management, to name just a few.Call to Action / Implementation Plan: A development document summmarizes the vision and is adopted by stakeholders as a guide for present
and future developments.

Charrette Drafting Supplies was largest such place in Boston .