Rachel Hutchison

Biography

I am a practitioner-researcher working across placemaking, participatory design and urban regeneration. My research interests centre on how the systems and processes through which places are planned, designed and developed can become more collaborative, inclusive and responsive to the people who live and work within them.

I am particularly interested in how communities can have greater agency in shaping the built environment; how different forms of knowledge and lived experience can be valued within decision-making; and how design can help create more equitable relationships between communities, institutions, practitioners and developers. My work explores participatory and systemic approaches to place, including co-design, collaborative governance, community-led development and new models for sharing ownership, knowledge and value.

My PhD research extends these interests through an exploration of technology-enabled making and fabrication ecosystems, examining how emerging forms of production and making might create new opportunities for participation, skills development and community agency within urban regeneration.

Alongside my research, I work as an independent strategic placemaking and systemic design consultant. My practice spans cultural and place strategy, community co-design, evaluation and Theory of Change, capability building, governance and participatory approaches to complex place-based challenges. This practice provides an important foundation for my research, grounding it in the realities of how places are commissioned, governed and delivered.