The Context: A Borough of Distinct Neighbourhoods
Camden is a borough of distinct "villages," each with its own history, culture, and community spirit. The Council is launching a £2m Diversity Fund to invest in local businesses that deliver social value.
To guide this investment, they convened 140 residents to answer a complex question:
"What impact should businesses have in Camden?"
Camden's ambition was high: they didn't just want a general consensus; they wanted to understand the nuance of lived experience across the borough. They needed to know if "positive impact" meant the same thing in Swiss Cottage as it did in Holborn.
PSi: Structured Deliberation
To capture this richness, Camden used PSi—software that allows councils to hold large-scale online public meetings focused on deliberative decision-making.
Unlike a standard survey or video call, PSi guides participants through a structured journey:
- Review: Residents read ideas from neighbors in different postcodes.
- Discuss: They entered small group breakout rooms to debate the merits of those ideas with peers.
- Vote: Only after hearing the pros and cons did they vote for their priorities.
This process generated a unified ranking of priorities based on deep deliberation. It showed where the borough aligns as a whole, but PSi's analysis engine also highlighted where communities stand apart.
The Outcome: Visualizing Local Priorities
Instead of treating the borough as a monolith, PSi's analysis automatically ran thousands of permutations to validate local distinctions.
The Evidence: The Head-to-Head Comparison
The platform identified a clear, statistically significant distinction between the priorities of residents in Kilburn and Belsize (p < 0.05).
The Data: Examining the Nuance
The platform's comparative metrics revealed that while both groups care about the community, they prioritize different levers for change:
| Priority | Kilburn Residents | Belsize Residents (Focus: Career Pathways) |
|---|---|---|
| Deterring Crime through Opportunity | Rank #1 (12.98% Vote Share) | Rank #13 (1.98% Vote Share) |
| Apprenticeships & Training | Rank #2 (12.21% Vote Share) | Rank #1 (27.72% Vote Share) |
How to interpret this data:
Kilburn residents championed a holistic view of safety. For them, the most impactful businesses are those that provide "proactive opportunities and a helping hand" to young people, strengthening the social fabric of the neighbourhood.
Belsize residents championed economic acceleration. For them, the most impactful businesses are those that provide direct career pathways, apprenticeships, and local hiring to boost the local economy.
The Strategic Value: Precision over Generalization
This project demonstrated that treating residents as "local experts" yields better data.
By using PSi to automatically segment the data by location, Camden confirmed that their diverse communities have diverse aspirations.
Without this data: A strategy might have focused too narrowly on a single definition of "social value."
With this data: The Investment Strategy can be flexible. The Council now has the evidence to tailor their support—ensuring that the definition of "success" for the fund reflects the actual priorities of the people living in each neighbourhood.
Conclusion
Camden Council successfully balanced the need for a borough-wide vision with the need for local sensitivity. PSi's analysis provided the confidence to build a strategy that doesn't just serve "Camden" in the abstract, but serves the distinct communities that make it unique.