Why were physical assets and spaces an important investment for Big Local areas?

For Big Locals, Community physical assets and spaces involved the purchase or refurbishment of existing buildings to create community hubs, capable of providing for a range of activities and services, as well as improving or creating new playparks and green spaces. Such investments were a significant feature of the Big Local programme, highlighting the value, priority and need for good-quality spaces at neighbourhood level, and the desire of residents to leave a tangible legacy of the programme. 

The programme highlighted that when communities have greater choice and control over their funding, as in Big Local, significant sums tend to be directed towards assets and spaces. This article looks at the importance of those spaces in terms of their purpose, roles, and value. The source material used for the article provided more information about investment in community hubs than in open or green spaces, and the discussion in this article reflects this. A companion article looks at community control over these physical assets and spaces.

By any measure, creating or improving assets and spaces was a focal point for many Big Local areas. They formed a central component of initial visions and plans in many Big Local areas, absorbed considerable resources, energy and attention, and came to represent a tangible expression of the lasting impact of the programme. Such effort has not been without difficulty; projects to build or refurbish community facilities are often highly complex and demanding, taking considerable time, skills, and persistence in seeing through a vision. They involve high stakes, are dependent on multiple negotiations with different stakeholders, and can often be beset by delays. And there are ongoing challenges of ensuring community control of these spaces and their sustainability. 

The long-term nature of the Big Local programme undoubtedly enabled the development and improvement of these assets and spaces. By 2020, around half (49 per cent) of Big Local areas had purchased or funded the creation of significant physical assets (such as buildings and play areas) and a further third (32 per cent) were planning to do so in the future. As plans gradually came to fruition, spending across areas picked up rapidly from 2017 to reach a peak in 2020. By August 2025, 15 per cent of all Big Local programme spending, amounting to £23.4m, had been directed towards community spaces (£17.8m) and open spaces and parks (£5.6m). Some areas chose to allocate especially considerable sums to these projects; around half of one Big Local area’s £1.15m funding was spent on a new community hub, while over a third of another’s programme funds were devoted to green spaces. Over two-thirds of Big Local areas planned to have a community hub that residents could access after the programme ends, while over two in five planned to leave behind improved green spaces and playparks.

Community physical assets and spaces are broadly intended to be accessible, open, high-quality facilities that offer opportunities for residents to meet up and engage in a wide range of activities, or access key services. They have been the focus of attention for Big Local partnerships for three main reasons:

First, investment became a focal point for redressing previous neglect of facilities, such as underused community buildings closing or falling into disrepair, and open spaces dwindling and declining or becoming inaccessible or unsafe. In many Big Local areas, investment in assets and spaces became a priority because the community had long-lacked basic facilities, such that there was nowhere to meet, and no open spaces to enjoy. Some Big Local partnerships saw the need to invest in facilities which, in a context of budget constraints in local statutory authorities, would not otherwise have been a priority. In these cases, Big Local partnerships could step in to secure and enhance provision of community spaces. The presence and quality of assets and spaces can have high symbolic significance, as a deeply felt marker of community pride and spirit; conversely, a lack of decent facilities can be a signal of decline and stigma. New and improved facilities can become destinations in their own right – places that residents and visitors can be proud of and enjoy. 

Second, community physical assets and spaces became a highly visible presence for many Big Local partnerships, especially in the early years of the programme. Investment in existing community centres and hubs both raised awareness of the programme itself and created a focus for a wide range of activities designed to meet identified community needs. Importantly, such assets and spaces enabled direct opportunities for residents to engage in activities, such as regular clubs and events. They also acted as a point of access to important and more community-integrated services provided by or on behalf of the Big Local partnership (or through other agencies, such as health clinics). In doing so, the spaces could also provide helpful rental income. But such spaces can also offer an open and welcoming place for people to meet up, connect with each other, and build relationships; according to Local Trust they have been ​“the foundation of the community’s sociability” (Local Trust, 2023: 10). In Big Local, this has been particularly important for helping residents overcome isolation and supporting a stronger sense of belonging, but also for helping to bridge divides between different groups within communities. It can be transformational, in that new ideas, collaborations and projects can be generated from such connection. In policy terms, such activities are the everyday expression of building trust, relationships, and thus social capital, restitching the social fabric of communities:

Third, investment in creating or upgrading community hubs and open spaces has been one way for Big Local partnerships to generate an enduring and visible legacy of the programme in their area, and leave a tangible reminder of residents’ work to create a better community. The importance of these spaces can be seen in the fact that so much energy and resource has been invested in them by so many Big Local areas over the course of the programme when they are not required to do so. The broad choice, timescale, flexible funding, and support offered within the Big Local programme allowed residents to consistently prioritise community hubs, play areas and open spaces. From a policy perspective, the hope would be that such facilities could go on to become part of each given community’s established, well-maintained, and well-used social infrastructure (Klinenberg, 2018; Gregory, 2018).

Well-funded community assets and spaces enable a range of uses, including working or meeting spaces for Big Local partnerships and other voluntary and community groups or statutory authorities, both during and beyond the programme), and as a venue for other activities. As such, they have played three main roles in the Big Local programme and elsewhere and continue to do so: they offer spaces for activities and services; act as symbols of community activity and pride; and operate as catalysts for further community engagement.

Assets and spaces enable activities and services to meet needs identified in the community. These may be resourced and run by the partnership or equivalent responsible body themselves, delivered on behalf of the partnership by another agency, or hosted by the partnership. 

Community hubs, for example, may host health and well-being services (such as support with mental health) or education, training, and employment services (such as courses, preparing CVs, and help with finding employment). In a single venue they may contain housing, benefits, and money advice services, a community-based library, a gym with sports and fitness facilities, and art spaces. Hosting an array of services in one multi-purpose venue offers the promise of more joined-up and integrated services and enables users to learn about other activities and services on offer. 

Other spaces offer outdoor play facilities, arts, sports and recreation activities, community gardening and horticulture, and green spaces to enjoy access to and being in nature, with attendant health and wellbeing benefits. During the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis, many hubs responded to immediate community need to distribute food parcels and provide meals. In many ways, these spaces came into their own through these crises, which highlighted their importance and value for residents (Langdale et al., 2021).

The work that can take place through community assets and spaces during intense periods of difficulty highlights a second role they play: as symbols of community activity, pride, and hope. The visible presence of good-quality facilities and spaces can be a significant source of pride for residents; a countervailing sign that not everything is in decline or has been neglected, coupled with a sense that their community has value and may be improving. 

Many Big Local partnerships pursued an early priority of improving outdoor and green spaces through activities such as litter-picking, clearing green spaces, tree-planting, and path-making. As part of a wider focus on increasing community pride and improving the physical condition and appearance of their areas, early progress helped solidify the presence and legitimacy of many of these partnerships.

Community assets and spaces can act as catalysts for community engagement and spaces for connection and participation. They can be sites for formal events, consultations, and engagement, as well as places simply to visit, be with, and meet others. This can, altogether, contribute to an everyday sense among residents of them being relatively open, informal, welcoming, and accessible places.

Wider research on community hubs in England indicated that more than nine in 10 offer a community hall or meeting space, while three in 10 run a community café (Trup et al., 2019: 15). As such, they can help overcome isolation and suspicion, build relationships, and create opportunities for further community engagement and volunteering. They may act as catalysts for new connections, ideas and projects. According to Local Trust, such social infrastructure ​“not only creates a sense of belonging and identity and improves residents’ satisfaction with their neighbourhood. But, more than this, it acts as a foundation upon which anything from coordinated community action to local economic growth can take hold” (Local Trust, 2023: 5).

Research on the Big Local programme has identified both the importance of community assets and spaces, and the roles they play in communities. In much of this literature, the value of such assets and spaces is implied. Community assets and spaces are thought to be valuable, and worth investing in, because they offer welcoming and accessible spaces to meet, connect, join activities, and access services at the community level. Translated into policy terms, as a core component of social infrastructure, they offer a promise of helping to produce better community, health and economic outcomes by replenishing the social capital ​“necessary for connected, capable and cohesive communities.” Thus, they can contribute to local economic development and give residents a sense of belonging and confidence, making them ​“proud of their area and its local identity once more” (Local Trust, 2023: 2). 

There are often, of course, challenges. Much of the literature offers a sense of promise of what might be possible with high-quality, diverse, and extensive community assets and spaces, rather than a comprehensive map of social infrastructure or an assessment of its overall quality and effectiveness. Research reports the scale of the task of embarking on and completing long-term, large-scale, and complex projects to create or improve assets and spaces, with many challenges and pitfalls along the way. There is also a risk of focusing too much on the bricks-and-mortar, built environment and bounded-space aspects of the work. This can be to the detriment of the people and relationships involved, potential inequalities in reach and use across the community, and the ongoing challenges of sustainability, maintenance and community control. 

On an individual level, quality community spaces enable residents to connect and engage with others, take part in enjoyable activities and events and join groups of interest, access relevant services locally, and gain a sense of belonging and pride in the area. The access to nature offered by parks and other green and open spaces also provides significant health and wellbeing benefits; for example, one study estimated the total UK wellbeing value of frequent use of parks and green spaces to be £34bn per year, with savings to the NHS from reduced GP appointments estimated at £111m per year (Fields in Trust, 2018; Local Trust, 2021). For community groups, assets and spaces offer amenable bases from which to work, places to meet and engage with residents, and opportunities to connect, share, and collaborate with other groups. 

Community hubs and spaces can help statutory authorities reach and engage with communities directly, and provide responsive and effective local services. For communities as a whole, quality physical assets and spaces provide a potential marker of a flourishing and cohesive place; perhaps a less-neglected community, and one in which there are signs of confidence, capability and agency within the area. Alongside other things, therefore, they may be enablers of an empowered community-led infrastructure (Wilson et al., 2022).