Up Close and Policy: Spatial Inequalities and Place-Based Solutions

Over the past decade, ‘place-based’ approaches have gained traction in public policy as a response to deepening spatial inequalities across economic, social, and environmental domains. This seminar explores how researchers and policymakers are working collaboratively—both locally and internationally—to design and implement strategies that support ‘left-behind’ places.

Featuring a case study from Professor John Tomaney (UCL) and hearing also from the North East Combined Authority, we’ll examine how place-based principles are being embedded in regional policy and governance. We’ll then explore how these insights have been adapted for global contexts through The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Transforming Places project. This UKRI-funded project seeks to build a stronger international evidence base on the understudied dimensions of local transformation, including to help policymakers and practitioners design policies that can build local capacity and empower communities to improve their economic future, quality of life, and opportunities for all residents.

Join us to:

• Learn how place-based approaches are being applied in practice and the convening role of Combined Authorities in bridging national policy objectives/ drivers to local challenges and opportunities and local delivery partners
• Discover how local assets—like social capital and civic infrastructure—can be leveraged for inclusive development
• Engage with international perspectives on community-led transformation

This event is ideal for academics, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone interested in spatial justice, regional development, and collaborative governance.

About the panel

Professor John Tomaney is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the Bartlett School of Planning, and Pro-Provost (Regional Communities) University College London. He is UCL’s first Pro-Provost (Regional Communities), a role which champions and convenes to build UCL’s capacity to develop impactful partnerships with a range of collaborators and actors in areas outside London.

His research has been principally concerned with development of cities and regions as socioeconomic, political and cultural phenomena and the role of public policy in the management of these. This work has focused especially on questions of the governance of local and regional economies, including questions of spatial planning. John’s work contributes to debates about the relational and territorial conceptions of place and space, which remain central to debates in planning, geography and the social sciences more generally. An additional theme of work concerns the imaginative representation of cities and regions in literature and art. John’s work is frequently aimed at live policy debates and he has undertaken research for international organisations and national, regional and local governments, NGOs and private organisations. He has worked in several countries but has a particular interest in urban and regional planning in the EU, UK and Australia.

Charlotte Carpenter is Director of Skills, Inclusion & Public Service Reform at North East Combined Authority, joining the team in March from Karbon Homes where she was responsible for a development programme of 550 new homes a year and the investment plans for Karbon’s existing 30,000 properties.

Charlotte began her career in the Civil Service Fast Stream, and has a passion for housing’s role in the economic and social regeneration of the North East. This was borne from senior roles with One Northeast and The Northern Way – a precursor to the Northern Powerhouse.

Charlotte joined the social housing sector in 2008, working for Home Group as Director of Strategy, Policy and Communications. Charlotte is an alumnus of Cambridge and York universities and holds a PhD in Medieval History.

Dr. Talia Melic is a Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. In this role, she undertakes research and facilitates global dialogue on the role of policy in supporting social and economic development in struggling communities, including at the neighbourhood scale. Her current work focuses on the role that place identity and social infrastructure play in a place’s transformation.

Prior to joining the OECD, Talia conducted research on housing, neighbourhood regeneration and diversity, and worked on development policy at the Australian Delegation to the OECD. She holds a B.A. in literature, a Master of Philosophy in Community and Regional Development, and a PhD in Human Geography, jointly awarded by the University of Melbourne and Université Paris-Est. She teaches at the Paris School of Urban Planning and collaborates in various local community development initiatives led by civil society organisations and local government in her neighbourhood within the Paris suburbs.

The session will be chaired by:

Dr Myfanwy Taylor, Lecturer (Teaching) in Urban Economies and Planning and Policy Fellow (Regional Communities) at University College London’s Bartlett School of Planning. She is a community- and policy-engaged academic with expertise in local, urban and regional economic development, planning and democracy. From 2018 to 2021, Myfanwy was Senior Research Fellow on the ESRC-funded Markets4People research project at University of Leeds, which has informed policy and practice on social value, retail gentrification and alternatives locally and nationally. Other recent projects include Economic Development From Below (funded by the Leverhulme Trust and Bartlett Innovation Fund) and the Tottenham/Durham Learning Exchange (Leverhulme Trust and UCL Public Policy Expert Engagement Award). Myfanwy co-leads the Bartlett School of Planning’s Everyday Economies research cluster and serves in a voluntary capacity as Trustee of the West Green Road/Seven Sisters Development Trust in Tottenham where she lives. Prior to returning to academia, Myfanwy was a civil servant at the now Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Cabinet Office.

About the series

How are policy decisions made and who informs them? In a landscape marked by diverse information and competing concerns, where does academic research find its place in the complex realm of policy-making? How can researchers and policymakers collaboratively address some of the most pressing challenges?

UCL Public Policy brings you Up Close and Policy, providing insight into the way the research community informs policy-making. You will hear from UCL researchers who have worked with UK policymakers in various capacities, ranging from Policy Fellows within government departments, to serving as Chief Scientific Advisors. These experts will share their firsthand experiences, detailing the dynamics of navigating diverse cultural landscapes to produce more evidence-informed policies.

The series explores questions about the requisite skills and expertise, the benefits accruing to UCL, individuals, and host institutions, and the tangible real-world changes achievable through policy engagement. The series delves into these inquiries and unravel the intricate connections between academic research and the policymaking process.

We welcome UCL researchers, professional services and policy actors working in government and third-party groups. The series will be available online on Teams.