Great Places

Looking Back

Over the past 10 years we’ve invested in a wide range of ways to try and create stronger, thriving, sustainable places.

Fife has invested in housing, infrastructure, regeneration and environmental improvement, helping to strengthen communities and enhance local places. More than 7,800 new homes have been built since 2017, including 7,400 affordable homes since 2012. Investment in transport and digital connectivity has improved access to opportunities, including the Leven Rail Link, active travel infrastructure development and superfast broadband coverage reaching almost all Fife premises.

There has been more emphasis on regeneration, placemaking and local investment. Regional economic partnerships and programmes such as Levenmouth Regeneration have attracted investment and created jobs. Communities have benefited from investment in local infrastructure, public spaces, town centres and community assets, supporting efforts to create vibrant and sustainable places. Alongside physical investment, community planning, locality working and support for community organisations has sought to strengthen the role of communities in shaping local priorities and services.

The natural environment remains one of Fife’s greatest assets. Extensive coastlines, parks, greenspaces and internationally important habitats support health and wellbeing, biodiversity and tourism. Increasing attention has been given to climate action, renewable energy, low-carbon transport and nature-based solutions as part of wider efforts to improve environmental sustainability and resilience.

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  Fife Cultural Strategy: using culture to support wellbeing, place and economic growth

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  Ravenscraig Walled Garden: transforming a derelict site into a community and skills hub

Looking Around

Life is still experienced differently in places around Fife - too many communities are held back by their local environment, uneven access to services, housing and wider opportunities.

The current housing emergency reflects national challenges around housing supply, affordability and homelessness. Demographic change is putting pressure on local services and infrastructure, while some – particularly rural – communities still experience poorer connectivity. Many places still show a legacy of former industrial activity, including vacant and derelict land, while town centres are slowly adapting to new patterns of retail, service use and economic activity.

Some communities experience greater disadvantage, higher crime rates, poorer health outcomes and weaker connectivity than others. Access to services, facilities, local assets and opportunities vary across Fife. Financial pressures, demographic change and different demands and expectations raise questions about the long-term sustainability of services in some areas. As these trends develop, issues of community cohesion, trust in public services and local resilience are emerging.

Looking ahead - Our Key challenges

• Physical places – Town centres, local high streets and visitor destinations must adapt to changing patterns of retail, service use and economic activity. At the same time, communities disadvantaged by industrial decline require regeneration to make them liveable and productive for future generations.
• Community cohesion and trust – Great places depend on people - on strong relationships, local leadership and community confidence. Concerns about crime, antisocial behaviour, service provision and wider inequalities affect how people experience, and participate in, our communities. Partners need to respond better to local priorities to address issues of community cohesion and trust.
• Places left behind – Access to opportunities, services, connectivity and community assets is varied across Fife. The challenge is to sustain the facilities, networks and local infrastructure that support quality of life - responding to differing local circumstances and prioritising areas facing greater disadvantages - despite the pressure on finances and resources.