Module 9 – Place economics

An important part of being able to talk to decision makers about placemaking initiatives is to present the economic aspects of it. This module presents the basics of the economic concepts such as the: role of economics in place making; economic value of a good place; quantifying the economic benefits; cost benefits analysis, business case development and net present value.

The intention is to be able to use these concept in one of three ways: 1) building a business-case for placemaking (using examples to advocate for place-based activities); 2) estimating the benefits that a project will have; or 3) evaluating the economic benefit of a placemaking project. This module does not advocate for benefit analysis based solely on economic factors, however, it does understand the need of using economic measures to attract investment and/or justify costs. For holistic understanding on the benefits of place, this information should be used alongside the relationship based evaluation framework proposed in the Place Evaluation module.

– To acknowledge and understand the economics of place making.
– To understand the potential economic benefits of a good place.
– To identify ways of quantifying the economic benefits of a good place.

The materials below are intended to support academics in embracing the materials created to teach the fundamentals of people in place. These should form a basis for you own subject, we suggest customising it with your own case studies and materials. Placemaking is context specific so inserting case studies, images and information from your area will make the content come to life.