A report about the geography of place

I’ve become interested in the geography of investment through a friend who’s in with “the Good Economy’s Place Based Impact Investment Initiative” and I ended up writing a blog on it.

I asked my son for his thoughts as he’s recently graduated in geography, this was his comment.

I’ve studied various regeneration / rebuilding community projects and the ones that tend to flop are the ones that don’t take into account place-based contexts and instead give a one size fits all solution. I hadn’t come across place-based impact investing before but I like the sound of it. Bringing together a lot of voices (housing, infrastructure, communities) is a much better starting point to tackling inequality than simply throwing money at building new housing for instance.

Then I put the ideas away in a back cupboard in my head until yesterday, when browsing the web I came across another paper, this time sponsored by Legal & General.

The Place Matters: Innovation and Growth in the UK report explores the power of place.

Many of our cities and towns have or have had a key role in the creation of the innovation-based global knowledge economy. Some places are already innovation-rich and others have the potential to drive the innovation which is now essential to the future well-being of the British economy.

This report looks at UK innovation success and its importance to productive growth. It asks if we need to do more for cities in the UK to innovate and remain competitive globally. It is designed to help more cities understand the importance of innovation activity to drive their economies forward and close the productivity gap.

From an investors perspective, investment that doesn’t get its geography risks failing the investor. From a policy perspective, throwing money at problems without regard the “where it’s going” is no way to tackle inequality.

My one gripe about the paper, which I’m half way through, is that it doesn’t think it’s written for me.

Who should read the report?
Civic Leaders, Universities, Business Leaders, Local Government and UK Innovation Policy Makers

Wrong answer!

This report is for anyone who gives a f*** how we build this great country better. It’s for anyone who thinks of ESG as underpinning the way we go about things,

We are – whether we like it or not – on  our own now. We are independent of and not dependent on Europe. We decide for ourselves where our taxes and personal investment goes!

The place our money goes is critical not just to the money in our pocket , but the economic health of our country. May we stay healthy.