RSA and IPM webinar spotlights “Pride in Place” and the lived experience of local places
The Regional Studies Association and the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University have hosted their third collaborative lunchtime webinar, exploring the timely theme of Pride in Place.
Chaired Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou the session brought together researchers, practitioners and policymakers to examine Pride in Place from both a policy and research perspective — with a particular focus on how place-based investment and governance can respond to what people see, feel and experience in their everyday environments.
Professor Cathy Parker opened by setting out the policy context and lineage of Pride in Place, highlighting its emphasis on long-term funding, hyper-local leadership and visible, incremental change. Drawing on IPM’s leadership of the High Streets Task Force, Cathy reflected on the importance - and the challenge - of strengthening local capability and place partnerships to deliver sustained improvement.
Professor Rebecca Madgin (University of Glasgow) then argued that pride can be a useful starting point, but not the end goal. She introduced a wider framework of “felt experiences of place” - recognising that people’s relationships with place extend beyond pride to a broader emotional and sensory register. Rebecca shared examples of applied work, including inclusive tools (such as emoji-based approaches) designed to help embed felt experience data into regeneration processes and decision-making.
Dr Chloe Steadman (IPM) focused on the methodological challenge of measuring and interpreting “felt” dimensions of place. Drawing on research trialling creative and sensory methods on a British high street, she demonstrated how approaches such as affective mapping can capture how different areas feel - and help prompt richer conversations than survey metrics alone. Chloe encouraged IPM members to access the research methods on the IPM website.
Closing the session, De Ilze Mertena presented British Academy-funded research on micro and small independent high street businesses, highlighting their role in shaping local identity and vitality through the “experience economy”. The research underlined how experience-led activity is often strong creatively, but unevenly supported by local coordination, networks and place leadership.
Discussion in the Q&A returned to recurring themes of capacity, inclusivity, and avoiding overburdening local actors — reinforcing that Pride in Place will depend on strong place ecosystems and shared responsibility across partners.
The session was recorded and will be shared via the RSA Lounge and IPM channels.
Further RSA-IPM collaborative events are available to access through the events section..
About the author
Formed in 2006, the Institute of Place Management is the international professional body that supports people committed to developing, managing and making places better.