“Impact Places”: Shaping sustainable, inclusive urban (re)development

In an increasingly urban world, there’s a pressing need to devise sustainable, engaged and constructive ways for us to live together in cities and urban centres. Globally, over 50% of the population lives in cities today. This figure is set to rise to roughly 70% by 2050 worldwide, and to over 80% in Europe.?

Chart source: https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization ?

But not all cities are growing. Across the USA, Europe and Japan, smaller urban centres are shrinking and, while the COVID-19 pandemic may have dented this trend, smaller towns and cities are still struggling. Both the growth and shrinkage occurring in urban areas makes strategic planning in cities and urban centres all the more important to ensure sustainable, inclusive and equitable urban living. Without a clear and well-rounded strategy, there’s a real risk that our urban spaces grow towards and create even greater levels of the dangerous inequality, division and radicalisation with which communities worldwide are struggling.?

How, then, can we strategically improve cities? Shaping them to be more liveable, desirable, sustainable and inclusive, while creatively working with existing local resources??

The role of “Impact Places” in strategic urban (re)development

An approach that balances social impact and economic sustainability is vital to define what quality urban development looks like for commercial, public and community stakeholders moving forward. At Archipel&Co, we see “Impact Places” as a solution: real estate development and urban regeneration/re-development that integrate holistic impact and sustainability aims and approaches.?

Usually, this incorporates objectives, physical elements and use-cases beyond housing (“first place”) and commercial/work (“second place”). The creative, the social, the community, the environment, the innovative, the informal, the local and the beautiful all play a part, adding value and values to re(new)ed places. The “Third Place” concept is key to this, and an established element of community-building and culture-making. The Archipel&Co conception of Impact Places builds on this, adding strategic elements with economic sustainability as a critical foundation for lasting social and environmental impact.?

Impact Places are also typically where individual interests and responsibilities meet their collective counterparts. As a result, they become relevant, high-potential locations for tackling major (social) issues — for making important happen — as they are, by definition, sites where different actions, actors and moments meet. The minor meets the major; individual interest meets collective interest; Impact Places become symbols of and hubs for the behavioural changes from which wider society can benefit.

At Archipel&Co, we see an Impact Place opportunity ready to be grasped in the economic culture ecosystem. This (re)development ecosystem is becoming open to, and needs, more entrepreneurial approaches, rather than artistic, informal and public approaches alone. These entrepreneurial approaches need to promote creativity, diversify business and commerce, protect and promote culture and inclusivity, and provide opportunities to engage with inclusive value chains, as well as access to goods and services.?

For over a decade, our team has been building these bridges and creating viable links between social enterprises (large and micro), culture- and community-builders and leading corporate organisations. We are experts in — and thrive on — finding the overlap between purpose and profit, with a track record of delivering on the impact potential of “out of the ordinary” projects (though we’re pleased to see them becoming more “ordinary”!). Below, we’ll share our experience of delivering Impact Places in France, sharing our evolving methodology and key takeaways, aiming to start conversations on what might be possible in other locations.?

Project context: L'épopée, Marseille

L'épopée is a major Impact Place in Marseille, which we co-founded with Synergie Famil y (a social startup based in the south of France), MCES (a leading impact e-sport company) and MAKE ICI (collaborative, social impact-focused makers’ spaces). Combining office, studio and event spaces, it was designed to drive creativity and innovation, with a focus on education.?

The location chosen for L'épopée is the former Ricard headquarters and factory. Fallen into disuse yet emblematic of Marseille’s history and the iconic entrepreneurial spirit of Paul Ricard, it was the ideal building to take on new life through this project, shaping a new chapter in its historical local story.?

After this first Impact Place creation odyssey and the great success of L'épopée, we collaborated with Synergie Family to set up a framework to continue contributing Archipel&Co’s social innovation expertise to the project. In parallel, this framework enabled us to bring in specific external expertise (finance, legal, architecture, design). This collective created an Impact Place primed to generate lasting, meaningful economic and social outcomes.?

Building the Archipel&Co "Impact Places" methodology

Building on our continued engagement with L'épopée, we continue to evolve our Impact Places approach. We’re currently applying it in Paris and Bordeaux, combining four key ingredients that our team brings to the table:?

1) Crafting a compelling story; sharing a dream that’s rooted in real needs

The project narrative must be meaningful to gain buy-in from the many and diverse stakeholders involved (in the case of L'épopée, from local shop owners and citizens to investors). Likewise, the story must be rooted in thorough research into the history and current reality of the community in which the Impact Place is situated.?

This shapes the project’s origin tale, as well as its projected impact, blending historical archive material and academic research with place-based communication skills. A qualitative study complements this investigation: What are the area’s true needs? What are the local aspirations for the site and project? What should the space achieve? Specifically, how many sqm should be dedicated to which functions (sports, education, work, commerce, and so on)? This qualitative foundation enables anticipating, achieving and narrating the projected social impact — starting from real requirements and ambitions, not an ambitious but short-lived dream.?

Finally, the project story must be measurable. We design a Theory of Change and impact pathways to measure, evaluate and demonstrate impact delivery to citizens, founders, investors and other stakeholders.

2) The art of dynamics

To bring Impact Places into reality, expert project management is vital. Our team is experienced in the nuances involved, from nurturing co-founder and core team relationships to partnership strategy and management, coaching, and interacting with local government. We balance the needs, aims and priorities of all the actors and agents involved to produce a cohesive, functional whole. Equally important is the identification, engagement and evolution of the stakeholders who will animate the Impact Place. For long-term success, these projects evolve into communities that need a dynamic mix of support, creativity and pragmatism.

These diverse lenses, skills and strands — bridging social and business — have been critical in building viable Impact Places. We have also seen this approach effectively spark conversations, collaborations and cross-pollination between Impact Place stakeholders who wouldn’t otherwise interact to the same extent.?

3) The alchemy of organisations

Impact Place projects need to deliver business value, with the business rooted in local values. Economic, legal, commercial and social aspects all need attention and platforming for success, from managing rents and ownership governance to fundraising and ensuring a thriving variety of Impact Place commercial activities. At Archipel&Co, we have both the expertise and network connections to build the necessary bridges for this between large corporate companies, social innovators, entrepreneurs, creatives and NGOs.?

4) Our passion for doing

We’re able to build the right teams to create Impact Places, uniting architects and designers with urbanists and environmental and technical assessors. Our energy and drive run through to assembling the right team to manage the location once built: recruiting, developing, onboarding and training the talent to manage and evolve it. As an Impact Place partner, we contribute our network to sourcing this expertise to bring the project to life.?

Lessons learned: how to generate lasting socioeconomic impact with Impact Places

From L'épopée and our other Impact Place engagements, we’ve taken three central lessons forward:

1. Embed your Impact Place in the community

This was a breakthrough for us at Archipel&Co, evolving from a focus on broader system change to a focus on tailored local impact. To succeed, Impact Places must be anchored in the local community. In smaller cities, opt for uniqueness to attract visitors. In larger cities, respond to the immediate needs of the surrounding population (density of people, economic opportunities, social needs, and so on).

2. Connection is key for long-term viability

Impact Place project sustainability is a direct function of the connection you’re able to create and maintain with the project partners, local authorities, tenants and surrounding neighbourhood.?

3. Uniting diverse expertise is a must

A melting pot of expertise areas is needed to make these projects a reality — from fundraising to legal, governance to recruitment, technical to creative. Innovative, adaptive bridge-building is essential.?