Place management

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Place Management

The co-ordinated/strategic/operational process of managing a given public place to ensure that it meets the hopes, expectations and needs of those that use it (Institute of Place Management [www.placemanagement.org] ).

One of the most central concepts to human existence is that of place. We spend our lives somewhere; whether we are working, relaxing or just existing - we pass our time in various locations; we may travel to a town or city centre to shop, commute to a business park to work, and return to a neighbourhood to sleep.

History tells us that successful places, or those that pass the test of time, evolve to meet the changing needs of those that use them. Increasingly, attempts are being made to manage this evolution through some type of proactive intervention process.

It may be regeneration, management, marketing, economic development, socio-economic revitalisation, community development or any permutation of these; but the aim is the same - to improve a distinct area or destination for the benefit of its users. This is the essence of place management – the process of making places better.

Although this term is relatively new, place management has, in practice, become an established concept over the last twenty years in Europe, having existed in parts of North America for much longer. It is also an emerging concept in other parts of the world such as Asia and Australia.

[edit] Towards a Definition of Place

Place as a concept can be defined from a number of perspectives which include those of established disciplines such as geography, sociology, management, urban planning, architecture or psychology, to mention but a few. For instance, some authors have defined place as “the experience of a specific location which involves a certain level of belonging, boundaries and connections to one’s everyday life, even when its identity may be created and seldom fixed in time” (Escobar, 2000 - http://simonbatterbury.net/pubs/escobar5aspublished.doc). Regardless of the conceptual approach taken to arrive at a definition, places would normally include:


  • Cities and/or city centres
  • Towns and/or town centres
  • Neighbourhoods and/or district centres
  • Villages
  • Business Improvement District areas
  • Industrial estates
  • Business parks
  • Out-of-town retail & entertainment centres
  • Leisure and tourism destinations
  • Parks & open spaces


[edit] History of Place Management

Place Management has its roots in the management of town and city centres, neighbourhoods and locations. In spite of this, the concept embraces the management of a much wider range of locations, which may include public and private spaces of various sizes and geographical spaces. This management process has been defined by the Institute of Place Management (www.placemanagement.org) as "a coordinated, area-based, multi-stakeholder approach to improve locations, harnessing the skills, experiences and resources of those in the private, public and voluntary sectors" (Parker, 2007). This definition along with a wide range of international approaches to place management can be found in the Journal of Place Management and Development (see http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/jpmd/jpmd.jsp) . Place management can take a number of forms. One of these is a community-based (bottom-up) approach, where communities and/or businesses take the initiative of improving their street, town centre, public park or even engage actively with NGOs and the voluntary sector to provide a sense of purpose to the community. Among many other examples around the world, this approach has been trialled successfully since 1995 by an association of independent retailers in Granollers, Spain (http://mmu.library.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/089/2005/00000033/00000009/art00003]. Many place management schemes have been initially formed by local government, which has provided funding to create the post of a place manager. In the UK over 450 Town Centre Managers work within public-private partnerships that exist to improve the vitality and viability of town centres (www.atcm.org). Other examples of successful initiatives on this front have emerged in Australia, where the terminology of 'place management' originates.

[edit] Challenges in Place Management

Although place management has existed for over 20 years in a variety of forms (e.g. town centre management in the UK and Europe, urban revitalisation in Poland, activity centre management in Australia, business improvement district management in the USA), questions about this field of practice and academic research still remain. For instance, the Institute of Place Management is currently embarked on an ambitious international research programme that aims to establish the professional competencies and skills necessary to be an effective place manager. Do these change from one country to another? What are the backgrounds (academic and professional) of place managers in countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden or Australia?

Furthermore, how can place managers prioritise their projects and interventions in socio-economically diverse areas with a myriad of stakeholders? How can public-private partnerships be best managed to get the most out of places for the benefit of all those involved, including residents, local government, visitors, businesses, investors and property developers? Last, but not least, how can this management result in sustainable outputs that achieve a balance at local level between economic, social and environmental factors? These and any other current topics in place management are debated and discussed through both academic and practical approaches (including case studies) in the Journal of Place Management and Development (see [1]).