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On 12th March 2026, I had the opportunity to speak at an event hosted by the West Midlands Combined Authority, which brought together more than 150 participants from local government, business organisations, and place partnerships across the region. My talk focused on the future of our high streets and the importance of cross‑sector collaboration in driving town centre regenera ...

Professor Steve Millington from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Place Management recently participated in a roundtable hosted at RSA House in London exploring how creative civic practice can support social transformation and economic mobility. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) is a UK-based charity and think tank focused on social progress, innovation, and civic ...

With the UK Government expected to publish a new High Streets Strategy later this year, the Institute of Place Management (IPM) is convening sector roundtables and evidence-gathering initiatives to help inform the national conversation on the future of town centres. Across these discussions there has been growing recognition that high streets should not be understood solely as ...

The Institute of Place Management’s Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou and Rach Nickeas recently met with Kirsty Fairclough, Professor of Screen Studies at the Manchester School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, to discuss the growing relationship between music, culture and place. Professor Kirsty Fairclough has built an extensive career working at the intersection of ...

Graham Soult, a Fellow of the Institute of Place Management, recently spoke at Loughborough’s Town Deal Impact and Opportunity Business Lunch, an event bringing together partners, businesses and local leaders to reflect on the progress being made through the town’s regeneration programme.  The event highlighted the scale of activity underway in Loughborough, with more than £50 ...

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 persp ...

With the UK Government announcing that a new High Streets Strategy will be published later this year, attention amongst many in the sector is turning to what it will actually mean for high streets, towns and city centres across the country. The question is not whether we need another strategy. The question is whether it will deliver meaningful, place-based change. The Institute ...

With the Brit Awards taking place in Manchester for the first time at Co-op Live this weekend, the city centre has been activated through a curated art trail led by Manchester Metropolitan University alumni. Read more on the Manchester Metropolitan website at: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/brit-awards-art-trail-success-manchester-met-alumni For those working ...

The first issue of 2026 of the Journal of Place Management and Development (Vol. 19, Issue 1) is now available, with a timely and substantive focus on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. At the heart of the issue is a three-part spotlight examining the implications of devolution for place governance, policy and practice. The editorial, “A new deal for places” ...

In this talk, Professor Cathy Parker MBE will explore how high streets can be revived through people‑focused regeneration. Professor Cathy Parker MBE has been researching an alternative approach to regeneration – one that starts not with buildings or blueprints, but with local leadership, partnerships, and people. This talk brings this together with five years of national e ...