Comment

Successful town centre revival must be inclusive

Innovative thinking is required to revive town centres and increase footfall. But how do we achieve that without alienating existing users?

Local authorities and asset managers across the country are confronted with the challenge of reviving their town centres as they emerge from the pandemic. In a bid to attract investment and secure support from Members, stakeholders and the community, glossy investment brochures and websites set out a vision of ambitious plans with ‘on trend’ developments and new spaces.  

Without question bold ideas are required, with many centres needing to re-focus their activity and increase footfall, but this should not be at the cost of the existing town centre users and alienate the catchment population. So how do we do it?

One size doesn’t fit all

It is easy to look at successful interventions in other centres and replicate that into new schemes. Gentrified markets, container parks, food halls and event space have been very successful in a number of locations, but it is no longer a point of difference if they become common place in every centre. They are an option to consider but not a pre-requisite. Our centres need bespoke strategies which should be influenced by local context, building upon experiences in centres elsewhere, rather than a pre-packaged model.

We need to understand the catchment of a centre. By identifying existing users and understanding how and why they the use the centre, a strategy can be developed. The frequently maligned charity shops, discount retailers and markets play an important role, and alongside community facilities, can be critical footfall generators for users. It is counter-productive to attract a new group to a centre if the intervention marginalises existing users. This is not to say change should be resisted within centres, but it needs to be shaped. A balance needs to be struck to find the intervention that is right for the centre as a whole.  

The importance of community engagement

As we seek to repurpose our centres into thriving hubs, we need to consider what future intervention is striving to achieve, and how this can be delivered. Using effective and targeted engagement with all sectors of the community, we will be able to develop and deliver a scheme that works for the majority and not what or who is ‘on trend’. 

The pandemic has increased people’s access to and use of technology, which has created new ways to reach target groups through social media and other digital platforms. Engagement is an ongoing process and a fundamental part of creating a realistic and deliverable strategy which all stakeholders can buy into. 

It is our challenge as placemaking professionals to balance the demands of competing voices (and hear the often silent majority), and find the common ground between commercial reality and community aspiration. We need to present schemes that reflect the diversity of our town centre catchments, and ensure we are creating inclusive centres where everyone feels welcome.  

Best practice in action: Westgate regeneration

An example of how this is being achieved is our engagement work with Louth County Council, to prepare a masterplan for the regeneration of Westgate, a key quarter within the town of Drogheda. The project aim was to recover the streetscape and provide high quality public spaces to transform Westgate, acting as a catalyst for positive regeneration across the wider town centre. 

Our Strategic Communications team engaged with stakeholders and members of the community to assess their needs and aspirations. Through a co-design process that sought the views of potential users, the feedback resulted in significant support for more community and civic spaces in Westgate. Consequently a market space, outdoor meeting and seating area, and performance and festival venue have been incorporated into the design proposals. The co-design approach utilised findings from surveys and engagement to inform the design development; reflecting the needs and wants of the local community by creating a sense of ownership and ultimately bolstered support for the plans.

More information on our town centre work is available here. For more detail on inclusive town centre revival please contact Andrea Kellegher or Cat White.

22 October 2021