With 10X driving ambition at the regional level and councils leading economic development at a local level, Place10X will link these two levels together to strengthen the economy and lessen disparities.
Place10X will bring together local council areas into sub-regions to maximise their strengths and increase their investment potential. DfE will drive efforts within its remit while influencing other departments to come together to deliver holistic solutions. Place10X will embrace cross-border and international opportunities, and this place-based approach will see the department and its partners develop targeted interventions specific to sub-regional needs.
What is Place?
Place at its most general refers to three main components:
- location - where it is on a map, e.g. an area, city, town, or village
- locale - the material social setting, e.g. workplaces, neighbourhoods, churches
- a sense of a place - how we feel emotionally about a location or locale.
Taken together it can be an idea of identity and belonging, both physically and culturally, and allows some to define the special quality of a place.
Place-based interventions work with those based in a locality to design initiatives that are complementary and specialised. They are not regional level initiatives just happening in a community; they are tailored to that place, and they aim to tackle an inequality or disparity to accelerate the development of a more robust local ecosystem, identifying and unlocking capability while removing systematic weaknesses.
The way forward
Presence
DfE will be more visible sub-regionally, committing time and resources.
Leadership
DfE will deliver measurable sub-regional targets.
Additionality
DfE will champion and support, avoiding duplication
Co-production
DfE will develop programmes with local partners and people.
Elasticity
DfE will support cross-border and existing sub-regional approaches.
10X
DfE will ensure the entire economy is innovative inclusive, and sustainable for all.
Call for evidence and response
From 10 May to 9 July 2023, we sought views on what a sub-regional economic approach should look like. You can view the original call document at:
and the responses summary at:
2023/24 actions and interim sub-regions
The Sub-Regional Economic Action Plan is being developed for September 2024, but there are a number of actions underway following the response to the Place10X call for evidence. An interim sub-regional structure has also been chosen to allow teams in DfE and its partners to develop place-based initiatives now:
Get in touch
We want to speak to all our stakeholders while developing the Sub-Regional Economic Plan. If you have any questions on this or about Place10X, please let us know at Place10x@economy-ni.gov.uk
You can download this information: