Placemaking
Didobi has placemaking
and the economic regeneration of towns very much at its heart. We uniquely understand the support towns and communities need to shift from an over dependence on retail to multi-use, diverse and integrated communities that deliver economic, social and environmental benefits.
We co-created the #bettertowns Roadmap, which steers the journey towns need to take to create strategies and actions that will deliver meaningful difference to their future. Each junction of the roadmap comprises a set of clear and simple steps that build incrementally towards a series of short, medium- and long-term goals. An evidenced-based approach, it leverages academic research into people and places and has been delivered for the likes of Local Government Association, Sheffield City Council, Bassetlaw District Council, Tamworth District Council and Blackpool Council.
Data Based. Locally Informed.
Our Core Capabilities
Creating town visions
Data capture
Creating valuable insights from complex data
Action planning and execution
Detailed understanding of digital, data and systems
Community engagement
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Together with Urban Change Specialists Publica
Didobi will deliver a bespoke programme of support to London Boroughs developing evening and night-time strategies
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The Didobi team has been great in producing the Isle of Man first Town Audits. The team came in quickly and has done remarkably diligent job in such a small timeframe. It is so great to see all this data in one place. It allows the Isle of Man to benchmark its local economy for the very first time. The audits will be the foundations to the Isle of Man’s local economy strategy.
I was absolutely delighted by the outputs from this project. From the outset the depth of experience, understanding and energy that Didobi brought was excellent…… Thank you to all involved and I hope we can work again together.
I was very impressed by Didobi and what they were able to achieve….…… They clearly communicated what they were doing and were very collaborative in choosing the data measures. They exhibited very detailed knowledge of data, potential pitfalls when using data, as well as an excellent ability to source open and commercial data to achieve the outcomes required.
Our thanks to Matthew and the Didobi team for their research and insights in the science and tech sectors, the trends shaping its growth, the roles of cities and universities and emerging areas for growth. I was really impressed with the research data and their work will help us inform our focus.
Didobi have run training for my team to build our knowledge and confidence around data. We’re now much more clued up and informed when talking with analysts, commissioning research and reports, agreeing grant monitoring frameworks and procuring data.
Matthew and the team at Didobi have been invaluable in de-mystifying data for me, my team and London’s local authorities. We hired Didobi to help local authorities create evidence bases for their night-time strategies. They’ve helped the local authorities to understand the key questions they need to answer about their boroughs at night, what sources of data they can use, what gaps are left, and how to address them.
It was a pleasure to work with Didobi. They delivered a comprehensive, engaging and highly visual markets report (including a summary infographic) based on gaining a detailed understanding of the markets through visits, a survey with over 400 responses and analysis of key data. Their work will help inform future activity to support the high street.
Great work by the Didobi team in delivering our latest ULI Asia Pacific report - Understanding the Life Sciences Sector in Asia Pacific – the Case for Investment. It rode on the success of the Life Sciences report published by ULI Europe, which was also conducted by the Didobi. It was a very collaborative process and well managed by the Didobi team. Their deep industry knowledge and experience brought added value to the research project.
ULI has collaborated with Didobi to research a crucial topic for the European real estate industry looking at Understanding the Life Sciences Sector: The Case for Real Estate Investment. Supported by ULI and a steering group consisting of the project’s funders, Didobi undertook the work, by surveying and interviewing ULI members and experts, collecting data and market views, to ensure that a wide range of opinions could be considered. The resulting report, which has been well received by the industry, provides a comprehensive overview of the sector.
IPF
The IPF seeks to enhance the understanding of real estate as an asset class and
raise awareness of issues that may have far-reaching consequences for property
investment. These objectives are exemplified by Didobi’s work for the IPF Research
Programme on two recent studies: Operational Real Estate Risk and
Reward and Global Capital Flows in a World of Increasing Nationalism &
Protectionism.
It was a pleasure to work with Didobi on the Clicks and Mortar programme. As we opened up shops and filled them with online sellers who wanted to test trade, the Didobi team measured what worked. As small businesses look to make an ever-greater return to the High Street, the Didobi role will be critical in crafting a model that sees this form of PopUp retail working for the small business, landlords, and customers.
As project manager for the Council I found Didobi to be very well organised, very thorough and complete works when they said they were going to and to scope and specification agreed. The final report produced was concise yet detailed, with novel ideas and applications that the Council had not ever considered or had never articulated correctly before.
Thank you for your excellent and informative presentation. It was very well received especially amongst the more strategic thinkers. I think to some of the others the facts came as a shock to the system.
It was a pleasure meeting you today and the feedback from the audience on your presentation was extremely encouraging. It helped set the challenge for a new strategic vision and framework in which to present to residents as the ideas evolve over the forthcoming months. Thanks for setting the scene for the thought-provoking discussions that followed.
BITC
Thank you for an informative and thought-provoking session.
Thanks again for an interesting and thought-provoking masterclass.
A very big thank you for your invaluable contributions this week, at Cirencester Futures.
Great piece of work Matthew, articulate, reasoned and accurate
I found it inspirational and also left with a feeling of ignorance and inadequate knowledge of the current thinking
Both workshops were very interesting and useful, with some good speakers and a good opportunity to meet those from other towns who are facing similar challenges. The handouts are good and having copies of the presentations is also particularly helpful.
The handouts (aide memoir and workbook) are really useful.
Thanks - a great day. I left inspired and with key actions to move our town centre work forward. We'll be looking at how to engage communities more too
The success of the conference was in no small part down to your excellent and engaging presentation. It was a pivotal element of the morning and it was clear to me from the room ambience as you were on your feet that all would be well. And indeed it was. So thanks you very much for that.
Thanks again for organising the event, such a great day. I hope we have the chance to work together again in future. Really impressed with your whole approach and its realisation-- keep it up.
Thank you for your great presentation today. As ever it was full of thought-provoking facts that will help us plan the future of our towns
So inspired by Matthew Hopkinson this morning in thinking about the growth and development of town centres.
And can I just say a huge thank you for your time and vision on Tuesday, the feedback from people has been great.
News and Insight
Webinar: Transforming Town Centres & Local Development Through Effective Data Capture & Use
Matthew Hopkinson, Mairead Hunt, Paul McNaught and Marie Ward will be hosting a webinar on Friday
Monitoring and Evaluating the Changing Form and Function of Towns in Ireland
In 2024 we were pleased to win a project in Ireland to support the understanding of data relevant
Event: Evaluating the Changing Form and Function of Towns – 3 & 4 March 2025
Matthew Hopkinson will be at the Technological University Dublin to present at their Retail Sympo