Urban Foundry joins Design Commission for Wales to explore how collaboration, local knowledge and community engagement can create better places across South West Wales.
What makes a great place? And how do we make sure the people who know it best have a say in shaping its future?
These were some of the questions explored at the first of four regional Co-Create events organised by Design Commission for Wales, bringing together professionals from across the built environment to share ideas and approaches to placemaking.
Held at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin in Carmarthen, the event focused on the opportunities and challenges of creating better places across South West Wales.
Urban Foundry was invited to 
contribute to the discussion, sharing our experience of working with communities, businesses and local authorities to bring positive change to towns and city centres.
Understanding Places, Listening to People
The event featured three speakers exploring placemaking from different perspectives — regional, town and individual project.
Representing Urban Foundry, our contribution focused on the town-level approach, drawing on our placemaking experience and recent work with Carmarthenshire County Council.
At the heart of our approach is a simple belief: before deciding what a place needs, we need to understand it.
That means listening to the people who live, work, visit and run businesses there. Understanding the challenges they face, recognising the opportunities they see and involving them in developing solutions.
It’s also about turning conversations into action — testing ideas, learning what works and creating meaningful change rather than producing another strategy that sits on a shelf.
Turning Ideas into Action
The event brought together planners, highways engineers, local authority teams and professionals working across the built environment.
Through presentations and collaborative workshops, participants explored what’s working, what could be improved and how different perspectives can help shape more successful places.
For us, it reinforced something that runs through everything we do at Urban Foundry.
Placemaking isn’t something you do to a place. It’s something you do with the people who are part of it.
By bringing people together, understanding local needs and finding practical ways to make things happen, we can create places that are more vibrant, welcoming and resilient.
Thank you to Jen Heal, Felicity Barbur and the Design Commission for Wales team for the invitation, and to fellow speakers Ceri Morris from Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and Sarah Morris from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority for sharing their perspectives.
