Irish property company Iput Real Estate, the largest owner of offices and logistics assets in Dublin, has launched Making Impact, a five-year study designed to value the impact of placemaking on city neighbourhoods on a longitudinal basis.
Iput has appointed three international placemaking and design agencies - Hassell, PRD and Gehl - who will collaborate to assess the social, economic, environmental and cultural impact of placemaking at its Wilton Park development in Dublin 2.
Niall Gaffney, CEO Iput, said: 'Wilton Park is an opportunity to create an inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable neighbourhood that will engage with the wider community. As custodians and stewards of this historic part of Dublin city, we are passionate about understanding the impact of our investment in placemaking on Wilton Park and our neighbours.
'This research will value our impact with potential application for other cities and places over the long-term. We have assembled a group of market leading design and placemaking experts in Hassell, PRD and Gehl. They bring together the breadth and depth of experience required to create a leading evaluation framework for placemaking and help define the future development of our cities.'
Wilton Park is a 600,000 ft2 (55,750 m2) mixed used scheme scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The estate incorporates 580,000 ft2 of offices and 20,000 ft2 of food & beverage space surrounding a one acre (4,050 m2) city park and a new streetscape.
Iput issued a detailed research report, Making Place, in 2020, which it subsequently updated in 2022, to consider the impact of placemaking on the workplace and wider neighbourhood.
That report highlighted the key considerations for asset owners, developers, occupiers, and city planners in thinking about the next generation of workplaces and the future of our cities.
Iput will now build on that initial research to understand the positive wider impact of placemaking through the follow-on study, Making Impact.
Marie Hunt, head of research, Iput, said: 'We want the quality of the regeneration at Wilton Park to be an exemplar for successful public and private sector collaboration on a global scale. We are aiming to create a meaningful place for the community and to attract additional footfall to this part of Dublin city by showcasing the best characteristics of successful placemaking.
'At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, social value was identified as being key to unlocking successful urban transformation and collaboration between the public and private sector. Making Impact will be one of the world’s first studies to measure social impact in the built environment over a five-year period.'
Camilla Siggaard Andersen, research lead, Hassell, said: 'Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team with a shared passion for making places that people love, we are excited to work with Iput to capture and share insights about the holistic impact of a wide range of placemaking initiatives at Wilton Park over the next five-years.
'While there is a growing body of evidence that speaks to the value of placemaking, few studies have been undertaken at this scale or with such strong roots in a living case study, which may itself be impacted by our findings over time.'
