Chester

An ancient city with multiple layers of visible and invisible heritage and long-established cultural traditions (such as the Chester Mystery Plays and Midsummer Watch), Chester also has complicated and historically marginalising administrative boundaries, including proximity to the dominant Liverpool City Region and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. With local place-making stakeholders including the local authority, small businesses, culture and heritage organisations, we will ask what conditions support meaningful and inclusive consultation strategies. We will co-design a large-scale community consultation event and develop shared definitions and vocabularies that support the city’s One City Plan.

We ran a pilot workshop in collaboration with the Cheshire Archives and Chester One City Plan as part of the Storyhouse Futures Festival in November 2025.