Engaging universities in ‘Pride in Place’ and levelling up

This paper presents a perspective on delivery of ‘Pride in Place’ based on a multidisciplinary researcher/policy/practitioner forum discussion. Injecting dynamism and breaking the cycle of spatial inequality are core aims of the Levelling Up White Paper. A mission is ‘to restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, especially in those places where they have been lost’. But how will this be delivered and measured? Much more policy thinking is needed to connect the mechanisms identified as drivers — the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) spending, local leadership and civic institutions — into a joined-up strategy. This paper focuses on issues that need to be addressed: what we mean by pride in place, how to engage with felt experience, how to build pride in place at local and regional level, and what role, if any, universities might play.