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We are celebrating ADEPT's 140th anniversary year by showcasing the voices of past and present ADEPT Presidents, reflecting on the evolution of place leadership and exploring the challenges, innovations and aspirations shaping the future of the sector.

In her essay Katie Stewart, Executive Director for Environment at the City of London Corporation and ADEPT's new President outlines her thoughts on the question "what next for place?" and explores the future of place leadership roles in the years to come.

I am responsible for place services and economic development within the Square Mile and beyond, from our 11,000 acres of green spaces across the south east from Hampstead Heath to Burnham Beeches, to the London Port Health Authority. 

While I have gained a real appreciation for the many dimensions of place throughout my career, my passion for place comes down to its role in bringing people together. No matter how far technology goes to enable us to connect with one another and live digitally, as human beings we will never dispense with the need to be physically present and connect. The importance of place is in its power to connect people. 

The next phase for place leadership and the wider sector

Regardless of the era, the critical factors in good place leadership remain the same: we need to be as market-facing as possible – in terms of the residents and businesses we serve, as well as the supply chains we engage. Policy and strategy only goes so far: it is results and impact on the ground on which we get measured. Only by engaging with those customers we serve and the industries with which we work can we really deliver the impact that our places deserve and expect.

Even in an increasingly digital world, the value of place will never diminish; rather, it will evolve and become increasingly multi-dimensional. Digital interaction with our physical world is bringing new layers and dimensions to how we engage with the physical world around us –that brings new opportunities, but also potential challenges.

I have had the privilege of working for ambitious authorities and the biggest persistent challenge is how to meet exceptionally high targets and expectations or standards of delivery - all while public sector budgets have been increasingly squeezed. It ultimately means we are seeking to deliver the best outcomes in the most efficient way for our ‘shareholders’ – our taxpayers – never losing the aspiration to always innovate and never stop trying to deliver the best we possibly can.

My vision for ADEPT

I have been involved with ADEPT for around five years, and I have seen the organisation evolve and adapt to the realities of post-COVID working. We have risen to the challenge of using digital connectivity and engagement, while not losing the all-powerful opportunity to bring colleagues together, through conferences, award dinners and leadership courses.   

ADEPT has delivered significant industry wide impact on policy and thinking, but for me its greatest strength is the professional network that ADEPT has built. Our conferences and in-person events create real camaraderie at a time when it is needed most. 

For ADEPT to remain relevant and effective for future generations of place leaders, we must evolve to ensure that it can give its members what it needs in as flexible and agile a fashion as possible. The pressures on place directors have become, and will continue to become, ever greater, meaning place directors are some of the most time- and capacity-poor senior leaders in local government. 

ADEPT needs to continue to be as clever as possible as to the moments and the ways in which it brings professionals together – maximising digital connectivity, but never losing the occasional moments to bring us all together in one… place!

How place leadership must evolve to meet future challenges 

My vision for local leadership over the next 140 years is for the sector and local authorities to become truly agile and innovative. I’d love us to make the most of the data and technology we have, and harness the sheer enthusiasm and energy of the people that work in our industry from across sectors.   

How can we be good ancestors? Let’s not back our future generations into a corner with places – either public realm or the structures we plan – as technology and the market around us will continue to change and evolve ever faster. It is critical that we enable our places to evolve as much as possible. Even the best schemes will need to be adapted and changed in future and to futureproof is to build flexibility into what we create today.

Looking forward, I see the biggest challenges place leaders will face will be our understanding of what communities want. It has become, and will continue to become, increasingly complex, and with that – as well as the financial constraints we are likely to continue to be under – we have to find ways of increasingly balancing a diverse range of expectations with limited resources. 

It will sound cliched, but technology and data now gives us the ability to be much more attuned to the needs of our communities and to tailor our services to those needs better than ever before. I see this as the greatest opportunity to transform how local government delivers for communities. 

The next generation of place leaders

If I had to share just one insight during this anniversary year, it’s that place leadership is not easy, but I strongly believe it is the single most rewarding career path in local government and beyond. While it’s as tough as it gets to be accountable for so much and to so many in our communities, it is worth every drop of sweat, every tear and every all-nighter you spend as you work your way up your career. 

My message to emerging leaders about shaping the future of place leadership is that the scope and purview of a place leader is so broad and diverse that you will never be an expert in everything you deliver. It is critical that you build an excellent team around you with the critical technical skills and competence you need. And never be afraid to own what you don’t know. 

Being a great place leader is about being part of a great place team – you cannot have one without the other, and your success is always a shared success with those of the professionals around you.

Further information

• Read the full collection of essays
• Find out more about our 140th anniversary

Author

Katie Stewart is ADEPT President from 2026 - 2027 and Executive Director for Environment at the City of London Corporation. You can find more information on her Presidential priorities here.