Digital intelligence
for better places
for better places
Cheshire East
Digital plan
making tools.
Place+
Prior + Partners
What is Place+?
Place+ is the digital placemaking platform by Prior + Partners — integrated tools for every stage of a place proposal.
01
Understanding
02
Analysing
03
Testing
04
Communicating
Built by practitioners delivering some of the world’s most complex place-shaping commissions, it combines spatial intelligence, data science and multidisciplinary expertise to support more informed decisions at every scale.
How Place+ helps create better places
Place+ brings evidence, analysis, design and engagement into a connected digital environment — supporting the entire project lifecycle.
01Site & place analysis
02Strategy and vision
03Masterplanning
04Development delivery
05Asset management
Helping teams move more efficiently from evidence to action.
Our guiding principle
Tools to
think with.
For every team, regardless of their technical resources.
Platform design principles
01
Intuitive interface & experience
Zero-training entry — if it needs a manual, it stays on the shelf.
02
Rapid iteration
Ask, see, re-ask — at the speed of a conversation, not a commission.
03
Transparent, evidence-backed results
Every number traceable to its source — trust is a feature.
04
Scalable framework
One platform, from national patterns down to a single plot.
One platform · a growing suite of tools
Place+ is a digital placemaking platform comprising integrated tools that support different stages of understanding, analysing, testing and communicating place proposals.
01 · Understand
Place+ Portrait
Helps you understand a place and establish the evidence base.
02 · Analyse
Place+ Analysis
Builds on that evidence to explore opportunities, constraints, market context and development potential.
03 · Design
Place+ Composer
An interactive environment for shaping, testing and comparing design and planning options.
04 · Communicate
Place+ Storyteller
Brings together plans, mapping, visualisations and evidence to help communicate proposals and support engagement.
Place+
Portrait
The evidence base
Place+ Portrait establishes a trusted evidence base by bringing together national, local and project-specific datasets into a single, accessible view of a place.
A shared starting point
How a place is performing, changing and interacting — spatial, economic, environmental and social — from a single site to a whole region.
Built around the place
National, local, client and project data, organised around the place — with bespoke mapping, visuals and branding tailored to the project.
The result is a live, shared environment for exploring place, rather than a static baseline prepared once.
Applications
Site identification and assessment
Development and investment strategy
Planning and masterplanning
Regeneration and estate strategies
Strategic planning
Client and stakeholder engagement
01The live national portrait
02Theme dashboards & insights
03One joined-up picture
01The live national portrait
02Theme dashboards & insights
03One joined-up picture
Fragmented
Siloed
Rarely spatial
Inconsistent formats
Hard to benchmark
Insight buried
Why we built it
Planning has been held back not by lack of information, but by the way it’s locked away and hard to use.
What this costs us
Teams spend significant time navigating fragmented sources and reconciling inconsistent formats — slowing the move from evidence to action.
Planning shouldn’t be a data-gathering exercise; it should be a creative, strategic one.
Component 01 · Understand
Place+ Portrait
A free-to-access view of the forces shaping places across England and Wales
placeplus.priorandpartners.com
01/05Move between themes, scales and locations in one interface
02/05Explore place, your way
03/05Cross-sector analysis, one joined-up picture
04/05Tell your compelling, data-driven stories
05/05People-driven analysis, AI-powered insights
Place+
Analysis
The analytical engine
Place+ Analysis generates insights and analysis to inform plans, strategies and project proposals — identifying opportunities, constraints, market context and development potential.
Complex questions, explored
Multiple datasets and criteria brought together, configured around each place and project — interrogate evidence, test assumptions and compare scenarios.
Building on the Portrait
Spatial layers combined, weighted and assessed — enriched with accessibility, catchments, demographics, viability and forecasting.
Applications
Site identification and assessment
Development capacity and potential
Opportunity and constraint analysis
Scenario development and testing
Land, investment and development strategy
Planning, regeneration and growth strategies
01Land capacity assessment · live demo
02Hex constraints map
03Developability scenario builder
04Developability potential
05Development prioritisation
06Growth area identification
01Land capacity assessment · live demo
02Hex constraints map
03Developability scenario builder
04Developability potential
05Development prioritisation
06Growth area identification
Place+
Composer
The design sandbox
Place+ Composer enables an interactive design and planning environment to shape, iterate, test and present proposals.
One interactive model
Spatial information, land uses, development assumptions and project parameters together — develop and compare options as ideas evolve.
Test, adjust, compare
Iterative and parametric design to rapidly explore alternatives — with digital development schedules connecting options to phasing and delivery.
A foundation for digital twins, interactive visualisation and immersive environments — testing, monitoring and communicating how places develop over time.
Applications
Scenario development and testing
Iterative design and option testing
Parametric digital design
Development and phasing schedules
Digital twins and monitoring
Interactive visualisation and AR/VR
01New town capacity tool · live demo
02Masterplan capacity variations
03Capacity assumptions
04Land use & open space
01New town capacity tool · live demo
02Masterplan capacity variations
03Capacity assumptions
04Land use & open space
Place+
Storyteller
The public face
Place+ Storyteller creates project websites to communicate proposals, support stakeholder engagement, capture feedback and make complex information accessible to wider audiences.
One digital experience
Plans, mapping, visualisations, evidence and project information together — making complex projects easier to understand and engage with.
Structured for every audience
Content shaped around audiences and stages — context, proposals, options and feedback, with outputs from Portrait, Analysis and Composer in one place.
The site stays live as the project develops — updates, engagement and ongoing communication, configured around each project’s identity and audience.
Applications
Live project websites
Development communications
Landowner and stakeholder engagement
Public consultation
Interactive mapping and storytelling
Ongoing project communications
01Benghazi 2050 · the public planning hub
02The plan, told chapter by chapter
03Basildon · dashboards for every ward
04Fully bilingual · Arabic & English
05Local Plan options, assessed in the open
01Benghazi 2050 · the public planning hub
02The plan, told chapter by chapter
03Basildon · dashboards for every ward
04Fully bilingual · Arabic & English
05Local Plan options, assessed in the open
Place+
Explore place.
Understand what matters.
Shape your future.
A digital placemaking platform by Prior + Partners