What future for high streets in historic cities? This presentation for RSA Fellows in northwest England and the Cheshire Society of Architects examines the links between high streets, heritage, belonging and possible economic futures.

1. The new historic city
high streets, heritage and
knowing our place
Julian Dobson, director, Urban Pollinators

2. ‘A NATION THAT KEEPS ONE EYE ON THE PAST IS WISE. A NATION THAT
KEEPS BOTH EYES ON THE PAST IS BLIND.’

3. Introduction: foresight and hindsight
1 Shift happens: the changing high street
2 Shifting gear: place in a digital world
3 Shifting perspective: designing for people
4 Working the shift: possible futures

4. FORESIGHT AND HINDSIGHT
WHAT IS ‘SUCCESS’ AND WHO BENEFITS FROM IT?

5. ‘We possess the distinctive architecture and
environment that means we should better
capitalise on the opportunities for inward
investment and economic growth.’
Chester One City Plan

6. ‘There is a concern that the High Street shopping
experience to which society has grown
accustomed... is changing and we are not sure
whether we will like either how it will change or
what it will be changed to.’
John Dawson, 1988

7. ‘Multiple ownership in town centres can be a
major barrier to change. This must be attacked
head on to avoid unnecessary delays.’
Government task force, draft report, 2013

8. FORESIGHT?
A NOTE OF CAUTION ABOUT THE BEST-LAID PLANS (AND THE OTHERS)

9. SHIFT HAPPENS
FROM SALVATION BY SHOPPING TO A DIVIDED SOCIETY

10. NO MORE SALVATION BY SHOPPING
FROM RETAIL-LED REGENERATION TO TUMBLEWEED: CONCENTRATION, POLARISATION, DIGITISATION

11. No more salvation by shopping
1 Concentration: 50% of shopping centre and
high street leases will expire by 2015. Big brands
are retreating into prime locations.
2 Polarisation: Growing gaps between the havenots and have-lots. Liverpool One: a £1bn wealth
redistribution scheme?
3 Digitisation: 12% of all UK sales were online in
2012. £50bn market. e-books now bigger than
hardbacks in US.

12. FROM ECONOMIC REBALANCING TO BACKING WINNERS
WHAT DOES A CITY-FOCUSED ECONOMY MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF SECOND-TIER TOWNS?

13. A city-focused economy
1 Agglomeration: Cities are increasingly seen as
economic drivers, concentrating
entrepreneurship, investment and productivity.
2 Creativity: Cities are attractors of population,
offering cultural and lifestyle choices.
3 ‘Irrational exuberance’: Cities stoke up land
values and property speculation. Despite talk of
‘rebalancing’ the UK economy is dependent on
London’s financial sector.

14. A SOCIAL CRUCIBLE ON OUR HIGH STREETS
TOWN CENTRES ARE BECOMING A MIRROR OF A DIVIDED SOCIETY

15. A more divided society
1 The failure of work: There are now more
working people in poverty than there are jobless
households living in poverty.
2 The debt generation: For the first time in recent
history, the next generation can expect to be
worse off than ours.
3 Civic asset stripping: Libraries, community
centres, parks and youth services are first in line
for spending cuts.

16. SHIFTING GEAR
RECLAIMING THE HIGH STREET IN A DIGITAL AND DIVIDED AGE

17. RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE
FROM SOCIABLE CITIES TO A 21ST CENTURY COMMONS

18. ‘Within the community, the more persons who
participate in a dance, the higher its value to
each participant. Each added dancer brings new
opportunities to vary partners and share the
excitement.’
Carol Rose, The Comedy of the Commons, 1986

19. RECLAIMING PUBLIC ASSETS
FROM THE SUPPLICANT STATE TO A DUTY OF STEWARDSHIP

20. ‘We are exploring a new form of ownership, one
which looks back to 19th century models of
mutuality and self-help as well as to 21st
century models.’
Peter Hirst, Hebden Bridge Community
Association

21. RECLAIMING LOCAL ECONOMIES
RECONNECTING FOLK, WORK AND PLACE

22. Of the £30m paid for groceries in Totnes, Devon,
only 33% is spent in independent shops and only
27% on locally sourced products - an
opportunity to reconnect up to £20m of spending
with local producers and retailers.
Totnes Local Economic Blueprint, 2013

23. SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES
DESIGNING HIGH STREETS FOR PEOPLE

24. THE HIGH STREET AS GARDEN
RETHINKING SPACE WITH FOOD: INCREDIBLE EDIBLE TODMORDEN

25. ‘Simply by using this language of food, we have
opened up conversations, new ways of looking
at space, new ways of working across our
communities, new ways of bending existing
investment.’
Pam Warhurst, Incredible Edible Todmorden

26. THE HIGH STREET AS PROMENADE
RETHINKING SPACE AS LEISURE: LONDON’S SOUTH BANK

27. In Melbourne, the number of pedestrians in the
city centre increased by 39% between 1993 and
2005. The number of street café chairs rose from
1,940 in 1993 to 12,570 by 2009. In London,
pedestrians spend £147 per month more than
motorists.

28. THE HIGH STREET AS STAGE
RETHINKING SPACE FOR PERFORMANCE: STOKES CROFT, BRISTOL

29. ‘Stokes Croft six or seven years ago was seen as
the sink of the south west, it was one of the
worst places. Really it was one of the most
interesting places.’
Chris Chalkley, People’s Republic of Stokes Croft

30. WORKING THE SHIFT
POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR HISTORIC CITIES

31. THE PERIPHERAL CITY
AN URBAN BACK OFFICE IN A TWO-SPEED ECONOMY

32. THE THEME PARK CITY
A BLAST FROM THE PAST OFFERING ESCAPE FROM THE REAL WORLD

33. THE NUMB CITY
ECONOMIC GROWTH BECOMES THE ULTIMATE GOOD

34. THE RESILIENT CITY
AN EVOLVING ECONOMY PRESERVING THE BEST OF THE PAST

35. THE SELF-DIRECTED CITY
BUILDING ON LOCAL PRIDE TO FORGE A SHARED FUTURE

36. ‘It is through the performance of creative acts, in
art, in thought, in personal relationships, that the
city can be identified as something more than a
purely functional organisation of factories and
warehouses, barracks, courts, prisons and
control centres.’
Lewis Mumford, The City in History, 1961

37. thank you
www.urbanpollinators.co.uk
Twitter: @juliandobson