What does it really mean to put place first?

A guest blog by Sonia Cubrilo MA FIPM, Director of IntoPlaces

As part of the Institute of Place Management’s developing conversation around a Place First approach, we have invited practitioners, academics and place leaders to share their perspectives on what putting place first might actually mean in practice.

We are pleased to welcome this contribution from Sonia Cubrilo MA FIPM, Director of IntoPlaces, who draws on more than 30 years of experience working with places, neighbourhoods and different levels of government. You can read Sonia’s blog direct on the IntoPlaces website here.

Sonia’s contribution gets to the heart of an important challenge. People and places do not experience government through departmental or organisational boundaries. The issues that shape everyday life – from high streets, housing and transport to health, skills, employment and the environment – are interconnected. Yet the policies, funding streams and institutions intended to address them can often operate separately.

So what would change if we genuinely started with the place?

Sonia argues that a Place First approach should recognise places as active partners rather than simply recipients of policy and investment. That means understanding local assets and distinctiveness, strengthening local capacity and leadership, aligning organisations around shared outcomes, and ensuring that devolution of responsibility is accompanied by the capability and resources needed to act.

Her contribution also raises an important question for the place management profession. If Place First is to become more than an ambition, what do we need to stop doing, start doing and do differently?

We hope Sonia’s reflections will contribute to that wider discussion and welcome perspectives from across the IPM community.