Latest News

We are delighted to confirm Dr Nicola Headlam as a keynote speaker at the upcoming IPM Place Platform Symposium, taking place on Tuesday 17th June 2025 at The Anthony Burgess Foundation, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY Dr Headlam is a Policy Fellow at the University of Birmingham’s LPIP (Leadership for Place-based Innovation and Policy) and the host of Placecast, a new p ...

Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou, Senior Lecturer in Law at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Institute of Place Management, visits Chicago as part of IPM’s ongoing internationalisation work to build a global community of place managers and leaders.

Dr Ilze Mertena, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and a member of the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN), has been awarded a grant from the ECRN Seed Fund 2024 to lead an exciting new project that places independent high street businesses at the heart of the experience economy.

We were pleased to welcome Zuzana Mikulášová to the Institute of Place Management and Manchester Metropolitan University on her recent visit to learn more about our work and connect with our team. Zuzana is currently undertaking a PhD and, after considering where to base her research, chose Manchester Metropolitan University - recognising our world-leading position in the field ...

Just weeks after the local elections and amid growing momentum for local government reorganisation, the Institute of Place Management convened a national online event to explore a critical question: What role should town centres play in the UK’s evolving devolution agenda?   Chaired by Ian Harvey, Head of the Institute, the session brought together speakers from national bodies ...

To mark World Health Day 2025, the Institute of Place Management is pleased to share this guest blog by Esther Worboys, IPM Fellow and experienced place practitioner, reflecting on how the places we live, work and shop in can directly shape our health and wellbeing. This year, the World Health Day theme is maternal and new-born health – an issue of global urgency and deep local ...

In this timely and thought-provoking piece, Jean Ball SFIPM explores the evolving - and often contested - meanings of the words ‘Place’ and ‘Local’ in the context of placemaking, devolution, and civic participation. Drawing on recent IPM roundtable discussions and her own reflections, Jean challenges us to consider how language, scale, and democratic structures shape people’s s ...

The challenge of delivering inclusive, affordable, and sustainable housing is one shared by communities across the world. While the contexts may vary, the question at the heart of the issue remains the same: Who gets to decide what our places become? In this article, Dr Patrick Collins draws on original research in rural Ireland to explore how power, participation, and planning ...

"May you live in interesting times" - I’m told this is an old Chinese proverb. It certainly applies to our current scenario. Many of us believe that local government reorganisation (LGR) and devolution are essential to the future of strategic governance in England. Others see these changes as potentially anti-democratic. But I suggest this is a unique opportunity to empower loc ...

The Institute of Place Management is pleased to share The MIMBY Majority: How to unlock housebuilding with early and representative public participation in planning, a new report from Demos, Britain’s leading cross-party think tank, supported by the Royal Town Planning Institute . The report was launched recently at an event near Parliament, featuring a thought-provoking panel ...