Ged Matthews discusses the idea of space-place-making, where space growth is brought to civic infrastructure from beyond just research institutes and industrial parks. He brought this idea to the Space-Comm Expo Europe in London this year with colleagues from across the North East to discuss the idea with cluster leaders across the space sector.
For the past two years I’ve been quietly talking about an idea I call ‘space–place-making’.
Mostly with colleagues and partners around Durham University and across the North East of England, through programmes like Light Years, Street Cosmos, and the wider civic partnerships we’ve been building across County Durham.
Until this week, I hadn’t really tested the idea properly with the space sector itself. Mainly because I wasn’t sure how it would land (and, in truth, I was nervous it would be dismissed).
But over the past two days I've been at Space-Comm Expo Europe in Excel London, alongside wonderful colleagues at Space North East England, Durham University Space Research Centre (SPARC), @North East Space Skills and Technology Centre (NESST), Northumbria University - Collaborate With Us, Business Durham, North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
I finally decided to brave it and talk about space-place-making to the industry... and the response has been fascinating.
After dozens of conversations across the ecosystem - with cluster leaders, investors, companies from across Europe, colleagues from the UK Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult, and industry organisations like ADS - one thing has become clear:
This conversation is more timely than I realised, just told in different ‘languages’.
1. Many regions are grappling with the same challenge
When I described space–place-making as the idea that space growth needs to embed into the civic fabric of regions, not just research institutes and industrial parks, the reaction from several cluster leaders was immediate in recognising the challenge in their turf. Clusters are getting very good at building capability:
But there is another layer that is less often discussed:
How frontier sectors become visible and meaningful within the places where people actually live.
2. Public legitimacy is part of long-term sector stability
In conversations with investors, consultancy firms and advisory colleagues, the discussion quickly moved beyond “engagement” and “outreach”.
The real issue is long-term sector durability.
Space is a capital-intensive, long-cycle sector that often depends on significant tax-payer investment. In a politically complex (and unpredictable) environment, sectors that feel distant from everyday life can become harder to defend over time.
But when regions feel genuine ownership of space capability... the sector gains social licence and political resilience.
3. UK Regions may be ahead of London on this
A great thing about the space sector is that it is truly dispersed across all of the UK. As much as we all love London – it isn’t the centre of gravity for space.
One particularly interesting thread emerging from discussions with space leaders was the idea that this might not just be a local experiment.
There may be scope to explore Northern England-wide collaboration around space–place-making, thinking collectively about the civic architecture that supports space cluster growth across regions.
If the UK wants frontier sectors like space to grow outside the so-called “Golden Triangle” (Oxford-Cambridge-London), we may need to think not only about research centres and investment, but also about how those sectors embed in place.
4. The conversation is international
Another encouraging aspects of the conference was discovering that these questions are not just UK-specific. Companies and organisations from across Europe - including conversations with colleagues from Denmark, Italy, Lithuania - recognised the same challenge.
If space is going to become a truly embedded part of regional economies across Europe, the civic dimension of cluster growth may become increasingly important.
5. Skills and regional identity are deeply connected
Another interesting thread that was forefront during the conference was the importance of skills.
Initiatives like @NESST (North East Space Skills and Technology Centre) highlight how regional skills infrastructure can play a powerful role in connecting frontier sectors with the places where people grow up, learn and work.
When people can see a pathway from their community into the space sector, the industry stops feeling abstract and starts feeling local.
6. Lessons from elsewhere
Earlier in my career I worked in regeneration around King's Cross. One lesson from that experience has stayed with me:
Infrastructure becomes durable when it becomes culturally embedded.
Places where economic growth aligns with civic identity tend to produce stronger and more resilient ecosystems. The space sector may be reaching a moment where that insight becomes increasingly relevant.
Space-place-making is still a hypothesis but the most interesting thing about testing the idea at Space-Comm wasn’t convincing people; it was discovering how many people across the ecosystem were already grappling with the same challenge --- just describing it in different ways.
The essence of good place-making is crafting a common language.
And think we’ve made a good start at the universal translator of space.
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