Transcript How to restructure your High Street

Manchester Metropolitan University
How to restructure
your High Street
State
High
Street
Civil
Society
Market
Deborah Peel
University of Dundee
Thursday, 10 July 2014
Overview: The High Street
1. Context for restructuring
2. Social reconstruction of
the high street
3. State-market-civil
relations & societal
responsibilities
Restructuring over Time
Changing ideologies
Mobility, wealth, consumerism
Assertion of market morals - debt
Policy responses / intervention
Complex change
Structural change in retailing
The High Street:
Complex and Contested
Activity
Trends
Shops / Retailing
Global change
Independent / Multiple Retailers
Technology
Offices
Decentralisation
Home working
Back offices / technology
Services
Technology
Co-location
Public services – eg police, post offices, Relocation
health facilities, banks…
Privatisation
Residential
Empty upper floors
Community facilities eg libraries,
theatres, arts
Closure
Evening economy
Displacement
What comprises the high street?
Place – Locality – Region – History – Memory – Romanticism
Social reconstruction:
From “Down Town” to Clone Town to…?
Evidence
Popularisers
Drama
Media
Economic incentives
Institutional sponsor
Schiller’s ‘waves’
Portas / Fraser review
Mary Portas
New Economics Foundation
Oxfam
Robert Peston
Evening economy
TCM, BIDs
Transition Towns
Governance & Leadership?
Power Relations and Responsibilities
State
High
Street
Civil
Society
Market
State
High
Street
Civil
Society
Market
Planning & Governance
for the High Street
• Governance always in catch-up and generally
toothless
• Localities too timid to resist economic
restructuring and locational preferences
• High streets suffer from a lack of leadership –
evident in the lack of vision and joined up
thinking
• High streets are part of a wider societal
malaise
Government
Governance
National
Policy
Planning system
Land use
High Street Governance?
National
Strategic
Local
Place
• National Planning Framework (3) 2014
• town centres - a key element of the
economic and social fabric of Scotland
• Single Planning Policy Statement 2014
• Fraser Review 2013
• Strategic Development Plans
• Local Development Plans
• Various individual responses: Town Centre
First, TCM, BIDs, transition towns,
• HSUK 2020?!
Galashiels: “a connected town” retail diversification (Border Railway)
Stranraer: “Gateway to Scotland”
Housing renewal and retail initiative
(New Ferry Terminal)
Presumption in favour of sustainable
development – successful places ‘town centre first principle’ = a call
to central government, local
authorities, communities and
institutions to ‘put the health of
town centres at the heart of
decision-making processes’.
Research to inform policy: Regional,
sub-regional, larger/smaller town
centres, commercial centres
Inverness, Kirkaldy….
Town Centre Masterplanning Toolkit
Town Centre Perception Surveys
Scotland’s Response
"Town centres are the lifeblood of our
communities, functioning as places of social
interaction and enterprise. By diversifying our
high streets we will make them even better
places to live, work and socialise.“
(Nicola Sturgeon, 2013)
More than Retailing
• Asserting a ‘town centre first’ principle whereby public bodies will
consider how they can support town centres before considering
development elsewhere
• Working with housing providers to bring empty town centre
properties back into use as affordable housing to promote town
centre living
• Reviewing current business rates incentivisation schemes to
stimulate vibrant economies
• Requiring public bodies to consider the impact of proposals to
relocate services out of town centres
• Broadening the appeal of town centres with a mix of leisure, public
facilities and homes
• Supporting development of digital towns
(External Advisory Group Report, National Review of Town Centres
Recommendations, 2013)
Advocacy: Proactive Planning
• Emphasise town centre first planning policy and use of
'sequential test’
• Encourage pilot studies to try new approaches
• Encourage use of compulsory purchase powers to
promote sustainable economic growth
• Promote Master-Planning Toolkit
• Fund local authorities and community and third sector
organisations to help deliver community design
charrettes focussed on town centres
• Support ‘stalled spaces’ demonstration projects
identifying temporary uses for sites within town
centres (with Architecture and Design Scotland).
(External Advisory Group Report, 2013)
Strategic Town Centre Issues: Healthcheck















Pedestrian footfall
Diversity of uses and change
Quality of built environment
Recent and proposed investment
Strategic accessibility
Attitudes and perceptions
Retailer representation and demand
Commercial yields and retail rents
Vacancy rates
Cultural and social events
Leisure and cultural facilities
Town centre residential population
Employment in the town centre
Street safety
Sense of place
Vision for town centres
Strategic issues
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Development of town centre
strategies through partnerships
Priority for town centre
development over other
locations
Network of town centres
Prioritisation of investment in
town centres
Diversity in town centres
(Strategic Review of Town Centres and Retailing in the TAYplan area 2013)
Civil
Engagement
Dundee Local Development Plan
Action Programme 2014
Retail
• Transportation appraisals
• Retailing units as part of
Dundee railway station;
Dundee port
• Maintain Dundee City Retail
booklet
Town centres and shopping
• Monitor retail planning
applications to ensure
sequential test followed
• Masterplanning of specific
sites
Leadership and Collaboration
Complementary Area
Complementary Group of Leaders
Proactive Planning
national regional and local planning agencies,
and local civic and amenity groups
Vibrant Local Economies
business and local authorities
Enterprising Communities
community and arts groups
Accessible Public Services
all public bodies, including community planning
partnerships and the Scottish Futures Trust
Digital Towns
local businesses community groups, local
authorities and digital providers
Town Centre Living
social landlords, empty homes agencies and
funder
(External Advisory Group Report, 2013)
Government
Governance
National
Policy
Planning system
Land use
High Street Governance?
Manchester Metropolitan University
How to restructure
your High Street
State
High
Street
Civil
Society
Market
Deborah Peel
University of Dundee
Thursday, 10 July 2014