| Event Start Date: 7th September 2022 | Event End Date: 7th November 2022 | Event Venue: Room A7, Sam-Alexander Building, University of Manchester |
White Elephant or Phoenix From the Flame? The design and adaptation of the purpose-built shopping centre in a time of crisis on the UK High Street
UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference 2022, Manchester, 5th-7th September 2022
James T. White, University of Glasgow
Abstract
High street retailing is in a state of crisis. E-retailing has been changing shopping habits for many years and the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s has accelerated the move online. Changing consumer behaviour has sent shock waves across the retailing landscape, triggering numerous store closures and bankruptcies. In this context, purpose-built shopping centres have seen their traditional ‘retail destination’ function severely tested. Drawing findings from a new longitudinal mixed-method dataset of land use change and adaptation in UK city centres, this paper considers the operational challenges faced by purpose-built shopping centres in the early 21st century and reflects on how the planning and design of shopping centres has been adapting in response. It finds that shopping centre operators are facing high levels of vacancy and cannot rely on the footfall and steady income stream that used to flow from traditional high street retail tenants. This has forced operators to re-think shopping centre design principles in favour of more ‘open’ concepts that have a positive relationship with surrounding streets and create space for a more diverse range of uses, including food and drink, leisure and entertainment, housing and offices. The evidence shows the newer purpose-built shopping centres, which were typically built with this more ‘open’ design language, have fared better on UK high streets than older centres with less active frontages and closed-door entrances which are being forced to radically rethink their design.