New Publication | The Role of Felt Experience in Place-Based Innovation
Published: 1 May 2026
This new publication positions felt experiences of place as a crucial aspect of how we deliver genuine place-based innovation.
A new publication by the Place Programme for Innovation Ecosystems, the Key Cities Innovation Network’s new Compendium, positions felt experiences as a crucial aspect of how we deliver genuine place-based innovation.
In this work, Professor Rebecca Madgin and Dr Lucrezia Gigante suggest that too often policy treats places as abstract spaces defined by boundaries and data. Our research in the AHRC Place-based Research Programme shows that if we want to address inequality and deliver meaningful change, we need to understand how people actually experience the places they live - their sense of belonging, identity and connection.
By taking these ‘felt experiences’ seriously, we can design policies and innovations that are more inclusive, more effective and more rooted in everyday life.
The chapter puts forward five components that we see as comprising genuine place-based work:
- Meaningful geographic location
- Administrative delivery framework
- Economic resource
- Lived experience
- Felt experience
We ground this thinking in our work with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and Historic England to explore how felt experiences of place is unlocking new ways of delivering place-based policies and practices.
Innovation Ecosystems, the first i-PLACE Compendium, is published by the Key Cities Innovation Network (KCIN) and features ten peer-reviewed contributions from universities and civic partners working across the country. Together, the collection draws on collaboration between 12 universities and 22 cities, offering new insights into how place-based innovation can address some of the UK’s most pressing challenges—from spatial inequality and productivity to skills, climate transition and community resilience.
The Compendium sits within i-PLACE, a new open platform developed by KCIN to connect research, policy and practice in place-based innovation. Through annual publications, conferences and ongoing collaboration, i-PLACE provides a space for cities, universities, industry and communities to share ideas, test approaches and scale impact.
First published: 1 May 2026