If I was writing a manifesto for the future of town and city centres, what would I put in it? I think I’d call it “places for people” and focus on how to get more smiling faces in our town centres.
2024 is a year of many impending national elections. I’d aim my manifesto as much at local elections though as this is the level where there is very often a way if there is the will.
Who can benefit and be involved?
Following various insightful discussions recently, I am starting this make-belief maninfesto by focusing on “who” are we improving town and city centres for, looking to involve in making improvements, and creating benefits for and with:
1. Assess who the town or city does or could serve; their perspective on potential changes that can improve their experience and benefit them; how they can be involved in shaping and delivering improvements; and how we track success.
2. Ensure that stakeholder engagement and wider communications are central in all work to turn-around town centres. It’s essential to involve key players in shaping solutions and keep the wider community informed and enthused about progress. Having a say makes people positive about places.
What we need to deliver to turn-around towns?
Next I look at “what” are the key areas and approaches to focus on in addressing them:
3. Safeguard the stock of business premises -even if some are temporarily empty- as these are public/private spaces that are the life blood of town centres as social spaces and provide opportunities to house new enterprises and services to draw people to town. Use the planning system and ownership to curate the mix of businesses and there is room for homes and other uses on often long-empty upper floors.
4. Nurture community enterprise as a smart way of bringing often iconic buildings back into use to provide key services and put roots down in a place. Two of my favourite examples are Galeri Caenarfon and Number 8 Community Arts Centre in Pershore.
5. Support placemaking in public spaces and the streetscape as places to admire, socialise in, host events and navigate visitors around town. I’d advocate a more tactical approach through placemaking plans co-produced with stakeholders than dry, design and development-led masterplans.
6. Bring town and city centres to life with street entertainment, events, markets and festivals that showcase the streets, attract residents and visitors, direct custom to local businesses and cause people to refresh their image of the place.
7. Make the journey to town easier and more appealing by offering more opportunities to combine walking, cycling, micro-mobility and public transport whilst giving priority to an increasingly immobile part of the population that may need to park close to their chosen destination.
8. Enable high density new housing development in and around town and city centres that are connected physically by active travel and emotionally as part of the community for shopping, services and socialising.
How we need to get organised to turn-around towns?
Now, I turn to focus on ‘how’ we need to do things differently to make things happen:
9. Invest in creating local capability and capacity. As somebody who has been parachuted in to help towns through the High Street Task Force, I can see the benefits of the processes, knowledge, pointers and understanding this adds. I’d say do not limit such help to the places that missed-out on funding and extend the remit to building capacity including challenging councils to create a plan.
10. Let’s celebrate 20 years of Business Improvement Districts by looking at how they might evolve alongside other partnership models to address strategic plans, manage investment and represent the wider community (aka customers). The piloting of Community Interest Districts has been inconclusive though there is much value in understanding the community or customer perspective.
My message to central government, don’t rush to ‘splash your cash.’ Make sure communities and councils deserve it not simply because they face challenges though because they have solutions based around a realistic plan and a partnership. Be brave, build consensus and allow for the change in fortunes to take time, based on engagement with local stakeholders. If people feel better about where they live, they may give you credit in due course and ask you back!
Want to know more?
This recent blog about how to turn-around town centres and accomapnying video presentation provides more information about collaborative placemaking based on the People & Places Partnerships review for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
This work in Causeway Coast and Glens draws-on the approach for creating community-led action plans developed by People & Places for the Local Government Association’s revitalising town centres toolkit. This toolkit includes practical guidance for local leaders including a case study on People & Places’ support for reopening & revitalising Selby town centre and reopening East Suffolk’s towns.
