All around us

New Deep Place study on sustainable place-making.

The Pontypool Deep Place Study was undertaken on behalf of the Sustainable Places Research Institute by Dr Mark Lang.  The Study has sought to further develop the Deep Place approach to sustainable place-making advocated in the Tredegar Study of 2014, which Mark undertook with Professor Dave Adamson.

Dr Mark Lang, author of the report said: “Pontypool has a socio-economically mixed population, with areas of deep poverty in close proximity to areas of relative affluence.  Pontypool town centre does have significant potential to provide public services, to be a focus for community cohesion and act as a potential location to grow local economic activity and employment.  Key sectors of the Foundation Economy, including food, energy, care, the environment and e-commerce all offer opportunities for local employment, as well as being critical for the sustainable place-making agenda.

“The central research question for the Pontypool Study, like that of Tredegar, is concerned with the need to move beyond Neoliberal boundaries: What type of economy and society do we need to create in our different communities to achieve economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability by 2035?” he said.

Deep Place is a holistic approach to sustainable place-making. It is grounded in an empirical concern with how to achieve more economically, socially, environmentally and culturally sustainable places and communities.

The approach continues to be strongly influenced by, and indeed seeks to influence in return, theories of social exclusion, transition theory, the Total Place public service reform agenda, and foundation economics.

Although realistic about the scale of the challenge in Pontypool and other communities across the UK, the Deep Place approach is fundamentally a positive one.  It actively seeks to identify local initiatives, resources, and the passion and commitment of local people and businesses.  These can, it argues, form the basis of a whole-place, place-based approach, which is so critical to making our all of our communities more equitable, resilient and sustainable for current and future generations.

All Around Us: The Pontypool Deep Place Study can be downloaded here.