Institute of Place Management

ATCM/IDA World Congress 2010 Review

IPM enjoyed an excellent three days at the ATCM/IDA World Congress held in London last week. The triennial event brings together the best place management practice from around the World, so it was with great excitement that we travelled down to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. Prior to the conference, IPM held the inaugural International Certificate in Place Management learning day, drawing interest from South Africa, Singapore, USA, Canada, Italy, Australia and the UK – click here for more details.

So, on to the Conference itself, and World class approaches to place management were the order of the day (or rather, three days), with practitioners and academics combining to showcase the latest developments in the industry. A host of international speakers convened to cover four key subject areas: Place, People, Partnership and Policy, with subject matter spanning a huge spectrum of theory and practice, ranging from local issues such as enhancing local distinctiveness to much wider issues including TCM approaches to tackling climate change.

Thursday’s proceedings saw Tim Smith provide an excellent summary of the progress Reading UK CIC has made over recent years (from chewing gum to diamonds, as Tim himself termed it), with their strategic work enabling Reading to emerge as a key hub for business in the South East. Michael Loveday, Director of the Heritage, Economic and Regeneration Trust based in Norwich, provided an interesting overview of the measures local places can take to enhance their distinctiveness, with methods such as the use of unique public seating and the erection of plaques celebrating historical events cited as proving successful across Europe. Lisa Durkin, Diana Hobson and Ged Gibbons presented findings from research completed for the dissertation stage of their MSc in Place Management (provided by IPM in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University Business School). Lisa focussed on the role and significance of traditional markets, whilst Diana took an empirical approach to analysing the influences behind business support for Business Improvement Districts. Both presentations were very informative, pointing to a host of implications for place management practitioners. Ged looked at how the European Capital of Culture award has impacted on Liverpool, and how the benefits derived can be extended in to the future.

Lisa picked up the Emerald Journal of Place Management & Development (the IPM’s official publication) best paper award at the Awards Dinner later that evening, and was understandably thrilled:

“I’m surprised and delighted to have won this award. As a newly qualified MSc Place Management graduate, it rewards the hard work I put into my research proposal which contributes new knowledge and understanding to the world of Place Management and town centres, in particular new research about traditional markets and their users.''

On to Friday, and Victoria Henshaw of Salford University provided an interesting and original take on place management by looking at the role of the sense of smell in urban design and urban management – something which we haven’t seen in a place management context before. Next up, our own Ojay McDonald chaired a workshop which looked at how the public sector can help support town centres in Europe, Ojay was joined by Raffaele Mannelli, head of the economic development department at Regione Toscana in Florence, and Paul Boylan of the Scottish Centre for Regeneration. An interesting and lively debate was had by all, with the various nationalities in attendance helping to provide links and generate a wider understanding of the issues at hand.

Saturday morning saw Dr Miki Muraki, associate professor from the Department of Urban Environment Systems at Chiba University, Japan, give a fantastic presentation which looked at the competition between Tokyo’s prime retail districts. A comprehensive research remit took in everything from retail sales per square metre to illegal bicycle parking and provided much food for thought. Finally, John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, and David Angel of the Destination Centre Ville in Montreal, Canada, closed the conference. John’s larger than life persona provided a fittingly entertaining and informative end to a brilliant three days, with his passionate views on the need to facilitate social mobility resonating with the audience.

Of course, unfortunately, there were many presentations that we could not attend, and special mention must go to the delegates from New Orleans who presented their sterling work which has helped the city’s recovery following Hurricane Katrina. Patricia Barnes from Hastings BIA, Vancouver, also deserves a mention. Patricia continued the theme of originality by presenting the partnership work she has been doing around the sex industry in Vancouver. Clearly a controversial issue, Patricia explained that by engaging and working in partnership with sex workers and key stakeholders like the police force, she has been able to remove some of the stigma and create a safer and more suitable environment, both for those involved in the industry and for the public at large.

Overall, it was an excellent and hugely informative World Congress; original, inspiring, at times provocative, this event had it all. IPM would like to pass on our gratitude and congratulations to ATCM and the events team who made it all possible.

And finally, It would be remiss of us not to end on the departure of Simon Quin as Chief Executive of ATCM – Simon has been instrumental in developing the place management industry over many years, and we would like to thank Simon for all of his hard work and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Roll on Montreal 2013!