Member Article

Future of Town Centres: death or evolution?

Professor Sarah Sayce is head of the School of Surveying and Planning at Kingston University London, which has just hosted a conference exploring the future of town centres. The conference brought together policy makers, investors, developers and other stakeholders from across the capital. These are her reflections on the discussions.

“One in seven shop premises in the United Kingdom is standing empty. In some places the figure is much higher than that – in Margate in Kent, for example, it has been reported that a third are vacant. The size and configuration of shops is also changing – many retailers are adapting to the growth in internet shopping and switching to edge of town logistics centres, while retaining a smaller high street presence.

“A phrase that came up at the conference was ‘temporary is the new permanent’. Whereas 20 years ago retailers tended to sign 15 or more year leases or more on shop premises, they now sign much shorter deals. Landlords have to pay business rates on their premises if they stand empty for more than three months, so they’re prepared to lease them to charities for little or nothing, just to avoid being hit by rates. It means that we’re seeing many more charity shops or temporary users and the new so-called pop-up shops. These used to be a seasonal phenomenon, selling Christmas cards or fireworks, but now some premises are hosting pop-ups all year round.

“In the past there was resistance to having too many food and drink outlets on our high street – there was concern about breaking up the retail line. That changed about 15 years ago and, in fact, the cafe culture has helped sustain our town centres and keep them vibrant. But we can’t expect it to carry on doing so – just how many cups of coffee can anyone drink?

“Whether there is a need for stronger control over planning uses was another major theme explored at the conference. Most delegates supported such controls, but stressed a need to be flexible. In many ways this makes sense. Owners of major shopping centres such as Bluewater in Kent or Westfield in London take great care to plan a mix of uses. A lot of thought is put into which shops sit next to other shops. Town centres, where there are many different landlords, also need careful management, so it falls to the town centre manager and, ultimately, the local planning authority to try to exercise some control over the competing interests of different retailers.

“If you look back over the past 60 years, planning has served our cities and towns well. They’ve been able to change and evolve in response to consumer habits while avoiding the urban sprawl of California, for example. But, while the vast majority of delegates at the conference wanted to retain planning controls, they were also open to adapting them. For example, several felt the rules which govern changing the uses made of premises ought to be reworked.

“There has been a lot of discussion about the broadcaster and shopping expert Mary Portas’s review into the future of the high street, which was commissioned by the Government and published last December. It has a lot of positive ideas but there was a view that, being very retail-focused, it missed the need to deal with the wider activities that take place in town centres. Their success doesn’t just depend on shops – they also need offices and services. If the only jobs in our town centre are in retail, then who is left to actually go shopping? We need to think about how we can encourage service providers and office-based users to stay in or relocate to town centres. This will become even more important as the population gets older. People in their seventies and eighties don’t want to have to make a special journey to visit a health centre.

“Another thing that came up was that we can’t assume that it is the affluent centres that are best equipped for the future. Each town needs to develop an identity and scale which works for its local community. Brixton in south London, for example, has embraced the pop-up culture in terms of restaurants and shops and has retained its specialist market selling vintage clothing and other items that people can’t find on the web. They’ve also launched the Brixton pound and customers can even pay in some shops by text.

“Croydon on the outskirts of London also has many interesting projects going forward. Its regeneration initiatives, including a focus on the street network and public transport, are real steps towards a sense of moving forward. This is where planning is so important. There are so many people involved – landlords, retailers, bus and tram companies – that only a local authority can take a lead on a project of this scale.

“There isn’t a one size fits all solution for all towns. Different towns will need different approaches. Planners require a legislative framework which best helps them balance competing needs while ensuring an environment in which inward investment can flourish and a vibrant mix of uses thrives.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Professor Sarah Sayce, Kingston University .