Reimaging Place Building: Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, and Locally Anchored Developments in the UK
Larsen, Graeme D, Lee, Angela and Zala, Megi (2026) Reimaging Place Building: Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, and Locally Anchored Developments in the UK. [Report]
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This report outlines a system architecture for a Place Building System - an approach championed by the King’s Foundation to support the creation of thriving, inclusive, healthy and sustainable places. It is the outcome of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project funded by Innovate UK, led collaboratively by the King’s Foundation and the University of the Built Environment. The Place Building System is supported by the Regional Building Foundation, an organisation established specifically to provide the infrastructure necessary for the wide-scale adoption of the approach. This infrastructure is structured around four key pillars, which are briefly noted but fall outside the scope of this report: • Regional Forums - convening stakeholders to foster collaboration and shared learning at the regional level. • Digital Knowledge Hub - offering CPD learning modules and a centralised platform for knowledge sharing. • Enabling Services - providing practical guidance and support to SME builders, including access to land, finance, and delivery pathways. • Innovation - driving systematic change across supply chains, construction methods, and design quality. The focus of this report is to critically examine the concept of place building and demonstrate how the Place Building System offers a practical, evidence-informed framework for guiding equitable and sustainable development. It highlights the value of a place-based approach as a robust response to the UK’s housing and spatial challenges, balancing social, economic, and environmental priorities. To illustrate the application of these principles, the report draws on five case studies as a comparator where empirical data is available, including Poundbury - a pioneering mixed-use community that has integrated planning, design, and social cohesion principles to create a highly regarded urban environment. Poundbury demonstrates how the Place Building System has informed inclusive housing, mixed-use development, community participation, and sustainable infrastructure delivery. It highlights the potential of the system to transform neighbourhoods, enhance community wellbeing, and foster long-term resilience. While many new developments claim that they incorporate elements of place building (such as walkability, sustainability, and mixed-use planning) this remains open to interpretation, and they do not necessarily realise the full potential of place building principles or start with those principles from the outset as a driving vision. By combining strategic frameworks, evidence-based guidance, and practical tools, the Place Building System provides stakeholders with a coherent capability for delivering high-quality, inclusive places - ensuring that development is not only physically well-designed but socially equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable. Much of the content of this report emerged through sustained engagement with the Steering Group. Comprised of senior representatives from across the UK’s development ecosystem, the Steering Group was conceived not as a conventional advisory panel but as an active, transdisciplinary co-creation body. It served as a critical mechanism through which the design, interrogation, and refinement of the Place Building System unfolded. This approach aligns with the broader methodological foundations of the study, which recognise that complex systems - such as housing, planning, and community development - cannot be understood or transformed through linear or discipline-bounded methods alone. Instead, they require iterative, participatory, and reflexive processes that mobilise multiple forms of expertise. A detailed account of this methodology, including the Steering Group interrogation framework is provided in this report’s Appendix.
| Item Type: | Report |
|---|---|
| Sustainable Development Goals: | |
| Keywords: | place building system, mixed-use developments, health and wellbeing, UK housebuilding, walkability, environmental sustainability, social cohesion, regional identity |
| Divisions: | Sustainable Built Environment & Property Research Centre |
| Depositing User: | Prof Angela Lee |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Apr 2026 10:40 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2026 10:40 |
| URI: | https://ube.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/258 |
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