Reflections from our focus on physical place-shaping
5 August 2025
As we now turn our focus to social place-shaping—supporting connected, resilient, and healthy communities—here are my five key takeaways from our recent work on physical place-shaping.
As part of our ongoing Year of Learning, we’ve spent the last four months exploring what physical place-shaping really means in practice so members can take inspiration and transferrable learning back to their own organisations. From community gardens to large-scale regeneration, our members are showing how thoughtful design and community engagement can transform space and lives.
As we now turn our focus to social place-shaping—supporting connected, resilient, and healthy communities—here are my five key takeaways from our recent work on physical place-shaping:
- Co-designing space unlocks creativity.
When you think creatively and involve residents and partners in shaping the spaces around them, brilliant things can happen. A powerful example is South Liverpool Homes' community garden, Grow Speke. Created in the heart of a Liverpool estate, it's become a vibrant resource that improves biodiversity, grows food for the local communities, and improves the biodiversity of an urban area surrounded by main roads and an airport. Have a look at what our members thought of Grow Speke and what they took away from the visit in this short video. - Regeneration must start with people.
For our members, long-term, meaningful regeneration begins with the people who live there. In the words of Ali Bennett, in her blog about Raven’s work on the Preston Area in Surrey: “This isn’t about parachuting in with polished masterplans. It’s about getting into the detail of how people live, what they value, and what they want to see change.” The Preston Area is one of our PlaceShaping in Action case-studies that showcase the long-term work our members are doing to transform places and communities and share the learning so others can benefit. - Green space is more than a luxury.
More and more of our members are embracing their role in improving green space and local biodiversity. It's not just a response to the climate crisis, it’s about creating healthier, more sustainable communities where people can thrive. Access to high-quality green space is linked to better mental and physical health. Our Sustainability Network, open to all members, will continue to have a focus on green space and biodiversity. And our new Sustainability Library includes some great resources for members, including sustainability strategies from members and presentations from organisations forging ahead on this agenda, including whg and Peabody. - Build for the future, not just the present.
With the welcome announcements in the Spending Review and focus on how the sector can be supported to increase the scale of social housing, it is important we don’t lose sight of the homes we build and who they are for. As Maia Rouse blogs, our recent Building for the Future webinar was an excellent opportunity to hear from two organisations – Magna and Habinteg – about how embedding sustainability and accessibility into design from the outset, can ensure affordable housing meets the needs of both current and future generations. - Long-term change requires long-term thinking.
With patience, long-term commitment, and strong partnership working, it is possible to build and regenerate homes, schemes and estates that transform lives. The work that Worthing Homes are doing to build Skywaves and Leeds Federated are doing to regenerate the Sugar Hill estate, both part of our PlaceShaping in Action series, respond to different challenges and different needs in different parts of the country, but both show why we need place-shaping housing associations who put the needs of their communities first.
While we are now moving to focus on social place-shaping, we will continue to share inspiration, ideas and good practice on physical place-shaping through our networks, events, blogs and member stories.
And of course our year of learning continues with social place-shaping - we’ve got some great events coming up, including study visits to Pioneer and Poplar HARCA and a webinar on how members are working creatively with the health sector to address health inequalities in their communities.