The emphasis on affect and emotion in cultural policy and regeneration initiatives is now commonplace: “restoring pride in place”, for example, was a guiding mission of the 2022 Levelling Up White Paper. Yet the concept, experience and mechanics of place attachment remain relatively undefined and unexamined in policy documents, practice and evaluations. In this presentation, researchers from SIAH at the University of Southampton explore the multitudes and complexities of place attachment, particularly its relationship to local pride, neighbourhood cultures and civic engagement. 

This presentation will use our research on towns—undertaken with partners and a wider community of practice—to collectively explore creative methods and metrics, particularly those which address the monitoring, evaluating and reporting of pride in place. We share findings and recommendations from our recent AHRC-funded projects, where we developed and tested our creative place-based methods. We will also discuss some of the political, ethical and epistemological challenges and opportunities of place-based research. This presentation argues for the value and range of qualitative research, which can complement econometric data on culture, regeneration and local economies.  

After our presentation, the audience will be invited to contribute insights and experiences concerning the value and potential of creative methods, and how such methods might develop new understandings of place, culture and belonging.  

Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities (SIAH) supports socially engaged creative and critical research and champions the significance of the arts and humanities in responding to the most pressing crises of the contemporary. Firstly, SIAH leads on critical and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the grand challenges, and supports research groupings that ask what does it mean to be well, how does technology make us, how can we weather uncertainty? Secondly, SIAH explores the roles that art, culture and creativity play in contemporary public life. The institute: funds pilot and proof of concept research projects; enables and supports a range of focused cross-disciplinary conversations and events; and brokers collaborative partnerships, placements and innovative approaches to knowledge exchange. Current projects examine culture and regeneration, place and local governance, and pathways to health and wellbeing. 

Presenters: 

Professor Nicky Marsh

Dr Joseph Owen

Dr Dan Ashton