Creating public value through caring for place

Abstract

This essay argues for a relational approach to place qualities and their governance. The argument, linked to a pragmatist view of the formation of publics and the articulation of public value, is developed through a discussion of firstly, the meaning of place, its significance to human flourishing and the resultant demands for collective attention to place qualities as a shared resource; secondly the relation of such collective attention to the formation of publics and the quality of the civil sphere of a political community; and thirdly the challenge of developing moral frames among such publics within which complex judgements about conflicting perceptions and values about place qualities can be situated. Promoting public value through caring for place in this way could act as a significant learning arena for renewing practices of democratic engagement.