The British Property Federation has launched its Great Places campaign, a year-long programme of initiatives to encourage members to commit to good “place shaping” in all future work.
The campaign will also aim to showcase the property industry’s collective role and social impact across the UK to its customers and government, as well as the communities it invests in for the long term.
It will comprise a series of roundtables, larger-scale industry events and educational materials, as well as articulating policy barriers to the creation of successful places.
At a time when government is firmly focused on the quality of buildings and construction, Great Places will examine the components and changing dynamics of successful places, and provide a platform for real estate businesses to learn from one another, working in partnership with the wider industry and the public sector.
An inaugural half-day conference was held today, hosted by Savills in central London, where industry leaders from across the public and private sectors will came together to present practical examples of creating and sustaining great places.
The conference coincided with the publication of A Guide to Commissioning Public Art, a toolkit by the BPF and Contemporary Art Society, which provides developers with a framework for commissioning in situ art. The guide highlights how art contributes to a development’s unique sense of place, and its ability to support the identity and visibility of buildings and places where people want to work, live and relax.
Ian Fletcher, director of real estate policy at the BPF, said: “The real estate industry provides value to society beyond its economic contribution. Our industry invests for the long term, but it needs to communicate the benefits that flow from that if it is to win the hearts and minds of the people it serves. Yes, we provide jobs, and enable productivity and economic growth, but we also develop the places in which people love to spend most of their time. These places have a significant impact on the quality of people’s lives.
“From the public realm in our city centres, where office workers spend their lunch hour catching up with friends, to the shopping and leisure districts increasingly enjoyed by families on a Saturday as a fun day out, we hope our Great Places campaign hardwires place making into the real estate industry’s contribution to the nation’s social wellbeing.”
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