LIZ DAVIDSON, PRINCIPAL CITY DESIGN Glasgow City Council Putting a Value on Place Built Environment Forum Scotland Conference 21 st Nov 2012 LIZ DAVIDSON, PROJECT DIRECTOR Glasgow MERCHANT CITY INITIATIVE

Is there a future for the High Street? Where have we come from? Where are we now? Where have we tried to make it better? Where do we go next? ….. Can we put a value on place?

… a “traditional” retail street 1n the 1930’s Tobacco Grocer Butcher Sweets Fruit Chemist Hardware Store Fishmonger

Multiples and chain stores..

Where are we now?.....

Ill or very sick indeed……? The Guardian Monday 13 th February 2012 Is the UK high street facing an inevitable ‘ death spiral‘ ? The Independent Thursday 01 November 2012 Another day, another death on the high street as investors pull the plug on Comet Mail On Line 6th February 2012 Dying high streets where up to a third of shops are empty The Guardian website October 2012 Town Centres – who killed the High Street? Ultimately the British High Street dies of neglect with no agency willing to map out a different future for it Financial Times February 7, :44 pm Time to let the British high street die There is a romantic notion that Britain’s heart lies in its local high streets, but like most romances, it exists heavier in the mind of one lover than the other… The consumer has rejected its high street paramour. There is a romantic notion that Britain’s heart lies in its local high streets, but like most romances, it exists heavier in the mind of one lover than the other… The consumer has rejected its high street paramour.

Jilted…. “ Price, value and special offers are at the fore of the shopper’s mind, increasingly so in worsening economic times. This combination can only be provided by large format retailers in central locations. The consumer has shifted, en masse, to shopping centres, major high streets and retail parks where international retailers with efficient sourcing and costs do battle with each other to offer the consumer ever-increasing value. And this is the way it should be. The general consumer cares little for heritage or for the sentimental argument. If it is cheaper, they will buy it, and they are right to”. Financial Times February 2012

Where we have tried to make it better….

Repair of Historic Fabric

retail makeovers…… Re-instatement of Architectural Detail

Social enterprises ….. The future?

Where do we go next ?

K ‘A land full of places that are not worth caring about will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not worth defending’. James Howard Kunstler : The Geography of Nowhere

Playing to your strengths ….

Setting out your stall

Appealing to the senses and the sentiments…

Creating space to experiment

…and bringing the outside world in…..

Meanwhile space ……

Who pays for public realm……?

.. as if it has always been there…

A natural order…

What makes the perfect street? ► BAKERY FLORIST ELECTRICAL CHEMIST BUTCHER BOOKSHOP RESTAURANT DENTIST SHOES HARDWARE PUB DOCTORS TATOOS & PIERCINGS ART GALLERY CHIROPODIST GROCER CRAFT SHOP WHOLEFOODS VET BANK COOKERY SHOP PET SHOP FISH & CHIPS DELICATESSEN ESTATE AGENT CAFÉ CLOTHES SWEET SHOP JUNK SHOP GARDENING STORE CHARITY SHOP ART STUDIOS NEWSAGENT POST OFFICE SUPERMARKET FISHMONGERS TOOL SHOP CAKES & PATTISERIE SPORTS SHOP CYCLE SHOP FRUIT SHOP NEWSAGENT LOCKSMITH JEWELLERY DECORATING I NTERIORS FURNITURE VINTAGE SHOP ANTIQUES OPTICIAN MUSIC STUDIOS & STORES GIFTS FASHION HAIRDRESSER BUILDING SOCIETY OUTDOOR SHOP ► 55 SHOPS

Financial Times February 7, :44 pm Time to let the British high street die There is a romantic notion that Britain’s heart lies in its local high streets, but like most romances, it exists heavier in the mind of one lover than the other… The consumer has rejected its high street paramour. There is a romantic notion that Britain’s heart lies in its local high streets, but like most romances, it exists heavier in the mind of one lover than the other… The consumer has rejected its high street paramour.