
How Milton Keynes Used PlaceMaker to Shape Its 25-Year Vision

- Company: Urban Intelligence
- Client: Milton Keynes City Council
- Year: 2023
- Region: England
- Product: PlaceMaker
- Community engagement
- Geographical information systems (GIS) and mapping
- Land search and assessment
Introduction
Challenges
Solutions
Facilitating collaboration, PlaceMaker enabled colleagues from ecology, highways, and conservation to contribute to the Land Availability Assessment (LAA) via the platform. Urban Design colleagues also use the platform to look at specific site details as the unlimited seats within a PlaceMaker license encourages collaboration across departments, creating a single version of the truth.
Scenario testing capabilities have unlocked new possibilities for Milton Keynes. “It helps us think outside the box” James says. From exploring increased densities to planning rapid transit routes and analysing open space, the team can model future scenarios with confidence, backing innovative ideas with robust data.
Results
PlaceMaker also enhanced consistency across the team. “We can say every site has been assessed against identical criteria – that’s really positive for us” James explains. This uniformity strengthens the quality and transparency of their decision-making, a key benefit for the team.
PlaceMaker’s engagement tools have enhanced online and in-person consultation events with interactive reports and map layers to demonstrate decision-making. Visualising data to engage the public is just one of the ways in which the council are using PlaceMaker to increase transparency and public buy-in to the city’s ambitious plans for the future.
The ability to test out a new or innovative idea and build an evidence case with PlaceMaker’s scenario testing really helps enable my team to think outside the box.
More case studies from Urban Intelligence


A Data-Driven Approach to Local Plan Making and Off-Site BNG Assessments in Somerset

