New Report published by AHRC Place-Based Research Programme and Historic England
Published: 21 January 2026
This new report advocates that the emotions attached to everyday historic places are part of how places support wellbeing, as well as what drives investment and local economic life. Find out more.
Today the AHRC Place-based Research Programme and Historic England publish a new report Connecting People and Place: Valuing the Felt Experiences of Historic Places, advocating that the emotions attached to everyday historic places are not incidental. They are part of how places support wellbeing, and as well as what drives investment and local economic life.
This report advocates that historic places can provide stability, belonging and restorative benefits that support day-to-day life. It sets out why people form emotional connections with historic places, and why that matters for wellbeing, local economies, and place-based decision-making. Introducing a new multi-disciplinary framework, Felt Experiences of Historic Places, the report shows how these connections form through two key routes: existential need and everyday experience.
It makes the case that these emotional connections shape practical decisions about where people choose to live, work, spend and invest. In England in 2023, heritage driven domestic tourism attracted 225.9 million visits and generated £16 billion in visitor spend (CEBR, 2024). Historic places also help attract creative industries, a sector worth £124 billion to the UK economy in 2023 (DCMS, 2025), with businesses often choosing locations for architectural character and aesthetic quality. In other words, what places mean to people can influence how local economies function, through visitor economies and longer-term investment in place.
The felt experiences of historic places are part of what makes communities work, supporting wellbeing and attachment whilst producing improved socio-economic outcomes in the places we live and work.
First published: 21 January 2026