A network to rethink and revitalise town centres and high streets
Revive our Town Centres is a forum to share information and take action to bring our high streets and town centres back to life.
Posted by Julian Dobson on November 21, 2012 at 12:58 0 Comments 0 Likes
Lou Reed famously sang that there was only one good use for a small town. When you grow up in a small town you 'grow down' - 'you hate it and you know you'll have to leave'.
But something interesting is happening in many of our small towns: something that many larger places, still in hock to cloned aspirations of economic development and an institutional inertia that appears to believe the development boom of the last decade will return, have yet to…
Posted by Julian Dobson on July 7, 2012 at 16:04 0 Comments 0 Likes
Guest post by Martin Blackwell
Thursday 05 July 2012
originally posted on the ATCM website www.atcm.org
Since the not-for-profit ATCM was founded in the early 90s, we have worked with hundreds of locations around the UK, and overseas, to support people and communities in shaping environments to make town centres better, where local people feel a sense of ownership, and visitors are made welcome and business can thrive.…
Posted by Chloe Goddard on June 18, 2012 at 13:35 0 Comments 0 Likes
High street gurus SpeakTo are offering an hour’s free consultancy to town centres that have missed out on the £1.2 million pot of Government cash to rejuvenate their shopping areas.
The town centre consultancy has been inundated by enquiries from disappointed high streets in need of help.
From Holyhead to Herne Bay town centres have contacted SpeakTo expressing their frustration about losing out on the Portas pilot money, wanting help now to capitalise on the work already…
ContinuePosted by Edward Harkins on June 5, 2012 at 9:49 0 Comments 0 Likes
I think that some members here, especially from Scotland, will be interesetd in a lively, but informed, discussion I have instigated on High Streets in the RTPI Scotland Linkedin discussion group (You do not have to ne an RTPI member to join that group). It follows the publication last week of a 'Vulnerability Index' that is an attempt to measure vulnarability and lay out the town centres across Scotland that are most at risk of literally dying in the face of the recession. The aspects of…
ContinueThis page is a roundup of coverage of the first High Street Camp, on 25 May 2012. A good starting point is to replay the live blog from the day: Click Here
Sunday 27 May: Some initial thoughts on High Street Camp and the Portas Pilots announcement at Julian's blog. And some pictures and thoughts from Rooms Of Our Own.
Monday 28 May: Some good feedback from attendees today. Chris Wade, chief executive of Action for Market Towns, has blogged here. Among his observations were that “Mary Portas ... spoke passionately about her ongoing commitment to campaign to save High Streets including the need for stronger government intervention in deciding controversial applications for out-of-town supermarkets and shopping centres.”
Alice Vaughan from 3Space describes the popular workshop on urban design and the built environment, led by Glasshouse and Living Streets, in this summary of the day. She concludes: "With a pocket full of business cards and enough ideas to fuel a whole wave of 3Space empty shop projects, I left High Street Camp encouraged that there is not only a powerful force behind the movement of community-lead high street rejuvenation, but that businesses, councils and local government are really beginning to take notice."
Greg Cowan, chair of Living Streets King's Cross, was particularly impressed by the Queen's Parade pop-up shops project: "The highlight for me was visiting Queen's Parade to see a regenerated street frontage accommodating pop-up small enterprises including a print shop, vintage shop and juice bar." You can read more of his thoughts here.
There's also a post from Nigel Rothband, chief executive of Retail Trust, describing 'an audience with Queen Mary', and this piece by Tracey Herald talking about the importance of connecting young people with their towns.
Tuesday 29 May: Peter Kay of BeepTreat has posted this Storify summary of High Street Camp, which gives a good flavour of the day (and if you want to know what Mary Portas's dog looks like, check it out). And a shorter version of Julian's blog post has been published by the Huffington Post.
There's also been lots of discussion about the Portas Pilot decisions, announced by the government on Saturday (but widely rumoured the day before). One of the most promising developments is this resident-led blog tracking the progress of the pilot projects - if you're from one of the pilot areas, why not join in?
Wednesday 30 May: Hannah Gibbs from The Glasshouse has written an excellent summary of the workshop she ran with Living Streets. It includes a useful six-point list of key themes emerging from the day's discussions, which could make a good checklist for anyone thinking about the built environment in their high street.
Add a Comment
Comment by Peter Kay on May 29, 2012 at 9:40 Loved it, there was an incredible atmosphere through out the whole day, made some invaluable connections and I am confident that Julian s hard work will have an impact on a high street near you.
Comment by Gregory Cowan on May 28, 2012 at 14:27 Thanks Rooms of Our Own and Julian Dobson - here is my blog report (Greg, LS KX)
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