The ChallengeThis section examines the issues faced by those responsible for the management of town and city centres. It also provides guidance on creating attractive, safe and sustainable town centres.Our town and city centres continue to attract more inward investment and jobs, particularly in new retail and leisure developments. A key feature of this has been the growth of night-time economies and the rapid expansion of bars, clubs, restaurants and licensed premises. Greater affluence and increased opportunity encourages people to use such facilities. The growth of inward investment within town centres also contributes towards improving the physical environment and enhancement of people’s health and sense of well-being. Tackling social exclusionMany, especially older people and women, feel excluded from town centres at night and particularly at weekends. Fear of anti-social behaviour precludes them from activities which might otherwise have attracted them. Although those aged 16-34 were the most regular visitors to town centres at night (45% going “at least once a week”) this figure drops dramatically to 25% among 35-54 year olds and 15% among those aged 55+ and of these, 71% report that they visit either less than once a month or never. Crime and disorder puts a significant strain on a range of public services. It also affects retailers and transport operators and diverts resources from other priorities. Creating attractive and safe town centresThe government is committed to creating cleaner, safer, greener and sustainable communities – places where people want to live and work. In October 2002 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister introduced Living Places: Cleaner Safer Greener. This was the beginning of the government’s drive to create and maintain better local environments, it is probably still the most important and influential national strategy, and has set the tone for most of the subsequent strategy development. Effective management of town centres is essential for enhancing and sustaining their vitality and viability. Having developed a vision of the kind of town centres people want, local leaders should develop a framework for managing and co-ordinating the actions of local partners to achieve local aspirations. The vitality and viability of town centres should be regularly reviewed. To measure the quality of town centres and how it changes, local authorities should collect information regularly on the following key indicators:
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This snapshot, taken on
02/12/2008
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