Designing Fair and Inclusive Places: Putting People First with Ruth Skidmore
In episode 22 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin talks place with Ruth Skidmore, Social Impact Lead at Meeting Place, to explore how homes, public spaces, and community engagement shape the wellbeing of the people who live in them.
Ruth’s journey from architecture into social impact brings a grounded honesty to the conversation, highlighting what it truly means to create places that are safe, accessible, and equitable for everyone.
From community workshops on high streets to national research on the social value of homes, Ruth’s work at Meeting Place challenges the industry to move beyond consultation checklists and towards genuine participation, accountability, and care. Together, they discuss the role of free public places, the importance of listening to young people, and why social impact must become a core part of how places are planned, designed, and stewarded.
Care, Community, and a Squiggly Career
Ruth describes her career as squiggly, moving from architecture to sustainability to community research before arriving in her social impact role. Each step sharpened her belief that the built environment is at its best when it is accountable to people first.
Her early research unpacking the limitations of social value calculators led her to focus on real stories, lived experiences, and the question that now guides her work. What does it actually feel like to live here
For Ruth, this is the work that matters most. Connecting planning and development with the daily reality of the people they affect.
Creative Engagement for Real Participation
Ruth’s work at Meeting Place focuses on making community engagement more inclusive, imaginative, and accessible.This includes high street pop ups, creative workshops, partnerships with schools, and digital tools that reach people who might never attend a consultation event. She emphasises that engagement must go beyond the usual voices and beyond the usual methods.
When communities feel genuinely welcomed into the process, the conversations become richer, more diverse, and more grounded in lived experience.
The Impact of a Home report
A significant part of Ruth’s current work at Meeting Place is The Impact of a Home report, a national framework exploring how the design, location, and affordability of homes affect wellbeing, opportunity, and community connection.
Ruth explains that the industry often focuses on the crisis end of the spectrum, such as homelessness or temporary accommodation. But all homes have impact, positive or negative, and understanding that full spectrum is essential for better policy and better design.
For her, homes are not units or numbers but ecosystems of care, opportunity, and long term health.
Shaping Places with Honesty and Humanity
Asked what she hopes for the future of planning and development, Ruth centres her answer on accountability and integrity.She wants social impact to be the norm rather than the afterthought, built into every decision rather than added at the end.
Her message is clear. Successful places come from trust, participation, inclusion, and the willingness to meet people where they are.
Listen to the full episode of Talking Place with Ruth Skidmore to hear more about community engagement, the social value of homes, and how we can design places that genuinely support the people who live in them.
Available on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcast.