The Importance of Place

How place shapes a sustainable future

Q5 and USC Global hosted an engaging event in London with Dean Christopher Boone of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. A global panel explored how “place” influences sustainability and social equity. Key insights covered affordability, empathy, inclusive policymaking, and designing communities people value, and can continue to call home.

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USC Global and Q5 recently welcomed Christopher Boone, Dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, to London; he led a rich discussion with international panellists sharing insights on how place shapes sustainability and social outcomes.

The conversation is now available as a video podcast, featuring Tyler Goodwin, Nikki Davies, and Lord Duncan of Springbank.

Click here to watch the full discussion

Key Takeaways

• Place-making is a fundamental but often forgotten element of sustainability – we must develop a sense of place in ways that make people care and want to conserve.
• The importance of efforts to overcome the tensions between place-making, sustainability and future-proofing our communities – if we involve and put people at the centre of the story, with public policy engaging local stakeholders, then we will create places that are fit for the future.
• Affordability is a pressing issue – as places become desirable they almost inevitably become more expensive, so it’s imperative to ensure that people from all walks of life and income levels can call these places ‘home’.
• All corners of the world are facing similar challenges – we have to maintain a high degree of empathy as progress is hard for everyone… and only by continuing to share best practice will we find solutions together, to shape policy and advocate for climate justice.

A copy of the booklet from the event can be found here, with further details on USC’s sustainability initiatives and some thinking from Q5.

Check out the event highlights below:

If you’d like to find out more, please reach out to:

Jen Ladwig, Associate Partner, Q5 – jen.ladwig@q5partners.com

Erika Bernal, Associate Dean for Advancement, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy – erikaber@usc.edu