Muse – Placemaking for future generations through long-term stewardship

When it comes to creating thriving places, neighbourhoods and communities for future generations, you must commit to be a key partner for the long-term.

It’s only through taking a generational approach that you can build an inclusive vision and deliver meaningful change that stands the test of time. For nearly 40 years it’s been a key pillar of how Muse approaches regeneration and placemaking.

It was one of the driving forces behind the creation of The English Cities Fund (ECF) over 20 years ago. ECF brings together Muse with Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, and Legal and General, one of the UK’s largest institutions and a major global investor, to unlock urban potential by delivering area-wide, long-term regeneration projects.

ECF was established to deliver place-based, residential-led regeneration to places where there’s a clear need for intervention. One example of this is its 17-year partnership with Salford City Council to bring forward the £1bn, 50-acre Salford Central masterplan. The area was once a surface car park and low-grade offices that was essentially a net drain on the local economy, alongside a series of derelict buildings that acted as the gateway into the city.

Fast forward nearly two decades and Salford Central is now a bustling community of world class workspace for businesses, as well as a thriving and diverse neighbourhood of more than 1,000, mixed tenure homes, and sits right at the forefront of the city’s success.

Using the experience gained over the last 40 years, combined with its innovative approach to partnerships, Muse explains why custodianship is so critical to creating places and transforming lives, particularly when delivering area-wide placemaking at scale?

Salford Central

Building trust
Committing to work with communities and key stakeholders means that developers take responsibility for their actions and local communities can be confident that they have shared goals, addressing any concerns early on. This provides reassurance and, as Muse has demonstrated, allows the creation of lasting, valuable, and mutually beneficial relationships.

Addressing need
To galvanise community trust and create the change that really matters to people, it’s vital to recognise what a place’s ‘essence’ is, its strengths and aspirations, without forgetting its heritage. Also, what’s important is understanding what a community’s needs are and then articulating these through a shared vision and clear goals. Once the need has been addressed, what a place wants can be delivered afterwards. It’s not about having a one size fits all approach to deliver shiny new buildings in the hope that ‘if you build it, they will come’, it’s about creating places that are genuinely authentic, working with the community to enhance the existing grain, not creating a collection of buildings where there’s no connection or pride.

Partnership working
Building effective partnerships requires time, shared objectives, and clear outcomes, but importantly courage too. When you are dealing with regionally and nationally significant programmes of placemaking, this doesn’t happen overnight. It is the result of bringing together investment, regeneration expertise and long-term commitment to realise a brighter future for the communities you work in.

Problem solving
Placemaking is often a complex process, particularly to deliver a positive legacy.
Challenges will arise through the planning and delivery phases, from funding and investment to design, governance, operation and engagement. It’s only by taking a lead and working with partners that the custodianship of places through long-term stewardship can be found, and momentum can be maintained. A short-term outlook can allow any one of these to derail and delay projects, sometimes setting them back by generations.

Doncaster’s Cast Theatre

Resilience
Creating communities for future generations means you are looking beyond the current economic climate and the red line boundaries, to answer the questions of tomorrow, not the problems of today.
Long-term stewardship allows you to provide stability and the resilience required to ride out any short-term uncertainty and deliver security and prosperity for people.

Adding value
Long-term stewardship provides the opportunity to create value that goes beyond bricks and mortar. By delivering inspiring spaces that blend heritage with future aspirations, you can prioritise the things that make great places for people; the amenities and facilities they need, workspaces for businesses, civic and community buildings, healthy transport, nature and biodiversity.

Muse has a proven track record of being the custodians of places that create kinder, better places for people, responsibly regenerating towns and cities across Yorkshire and the UK. It’s committed to this approach because it works, enabling partnerships with local communities that create opportunities to work, stay and play locally.