Activity 01
Stakeholder Role-Play Debate
Assign students roles for a fictional local redevelopment project (e.g., property developer, long-term resident, council planner, environmental activist, small business owner). They must research their stakeholder's perspective and then debate the pros and cons of the proposed scheme.
Analyse the role of one agent of change, such as a local council or a property developer, in the placemaking process.
Facilitation TipProvide each group with a 'secret objective' to guide their negotiation and highlight conflicting interests.
What to look forWrite an essay evaluating the extent to which a specific regeneration scheme has successfully created an inclusive place. Students must use detailed evidence from a case study they have researched.
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Activity 02
Regeneration Scheme Evaluation
Students conduct a case study of a major UK regeneration project, such as the London Docklands or Salford Quays. They will gather evidence on its economic, social, and environmental impacts to produce a balanced report evaluating its overall success.
Explain how different stakeholders can have conflicting views on how a place should be redeveloped.
Facilitation TipEncourage the use of a success matrix with criteria for students to score against, justifying their decisions with evidence.
What to look forIn pairs, students create an annotated map of a contested space, showing the locations of different stakeholders and labelling the map with their conflicting perspectives and interests.
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Activity 03
Local Place Character Assessment
Students conduct fieldwork in a local area, using techniques like perception mapping, questionnaires, and photographic analysis to assess its unique character. They then identify the key agents responsible for creating and maintaining that character.
Evaluate the success of a specific placemaking scheme in creating a positive and inclusive environment.
Facilitation TipEnsure a clear ethical framework is in place for any public interaction, such as conducting surveys.
What to look forStudents use a 'perspectives checklist' to review their case study notes, ensuring they have considered the viewpoints of at least four different stakeholder groups (e.g., economic, social, political, environmental).
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Start with the students' own lived experience of place before introducing abstract concepts. Use a detailed UK-based case study with rich source material to model the analysis of stakeholder conflict. Then, task students with applying these skills to a different or more local example to build their independence.
Upon completing these activities, students will be able to critically analyse any place, identify the key agents of change, and evaluate the often-conflicting outcomes of their actions.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Placemaking is always a positive process that benefits everyone in the community.
Placemaking can be highly contested. While it may bring economic investment and improved infrastructure, it can also lead to gentrification, which displaces lower-income residents, and can result in the loss of unique local culture.
Only official bodies like the government and large developers can shape places.
While these 'top-down' agents are powerful, 'bottom-up' forces like community groups, activists, and artists also significantly shape places through campaigns, community gardens, street art, and local events, often resisting or altering official plans.
An empty, derelict building has no meaning.
Even seemingly empty 'spaces' are full of meaning. A derelict factory might represent lost industry and livelihoods to older residents, but an opportunity for redevelopment and profit to a developer, or a canvas for a graffiti artist.
Methods used in this brief