The long decline of the high street is a problem that has gripped British governments for years. But what if there was a solution no one had considered before – doing it all on the cheap?
Spending less money is, admittedly, just one element of a report led by the urban thinktank Create Streets. But it does argue that rather than multimillion-pound revamps, a better answer could be smaller changes aimed at making town and city centres more appealing.
Central to this, the study says, is trying to banish, or at least tame, motor traffic, because too often urban centres are places “designed to be driven through, not for time to be spent in”.
As well as citing a lack of imagination, the report, which is co-produced by bike storage company Cyclehoop, blames planning regulations that favour conformity and clutter and too often treat speeding cars as a given, to which everything else must adjust.
“The default high street is engineered for traffic and furnished from a catalogue: a tarmac pavement, guardrails penning people at the kerb, litter bins ordered from a procurement catalogue, a row of plastic planters – public investment that is joyless,” it says.
While planners have traditionally focused on car access as a metric for thriving town centres, calculations for the Create Streets report suggest that replacing parking with other kerbside infrastructure, including bike spaces or outside drinking and dining areas, creates more economic value.
It found that one parking space in the high street of a market town is typically used by about ۳.۵ vehicles a day, bringing in just over £۷۳,۰۰۰ a year in spending to nearby shops.
But the same ۱۲ square metres, if used to hold nine share e-bikes, generates an average of ۱۳ trips a day, with over £۱۴۶,۰۰۰ a year in spending, even taking into account the lower average spend per person.
In a busier city, where share bikes would be used more frequently, the estimated total annual spend rises to more than £۳۰۰,۰۰۰.
Repurposing the space for outside dining brings less dramatic gains, but in a city centre it can still amount to about £۱۲۰,۰۰۰ in extra annual spending.
The report calls for a cultural rethink involving low-cost tweaks that rip away ugly and unnecessary street furniture and make better use of kerbsides.
Calling use by families “the indicator species of a healthy high street”, the report cites what is known as “the wrist test” – whether it feels safe to let go of a young child’s wrist so they can roam with some freedom.
This is best done, it argues, by removing the threat of speeding motor vehicles and not by trying to mitigate their impact. It calls the removal of pedestrian guardrails next to roads “the most cost-effective upgrade for the majority of high streets”, saying they are an eyesore with minimal safety benefits.
The report says “the absurdity of modern public realm management” is exemplified by Secured by Design, policy guidelines on cutting neighbourhood crime. These can, critics point out, mean benches and plants are removed on the advice of police, supposedly to discourage antisocial behaviour.
Andy Burnham, the prime minister, has pledged to try to reverse the decline of high streets, announcing in September a £۲۱۰m regeneration fund.
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However, the bulk of the money will go into buildings: turning old shops into shared workspaces or community cafes, or keeping pubs and clubs in business.
The report argues that renovating buildings is pointless if the street outside is unappealing. To reduce clutter, it says, there should be “a presumption of removal where an item cannot be justified”.
The effects can be dramatic, the report says, pointing to examples including Altrincham in Cheshire, where the creation of a walkable, car-free urban area helped see retail vacancies fall from over ۳۰% to ۷% in less than a decade.
Such initiatives do not have to be expensive, it claims, noting the example of an unused patch of land next to a church in Grimsby which was turned into a park for less than £۲۰,۰۰۰.
“Streets that are ugly are not so because councils lack the desire to change them, but because the system is counting the maintenance liabilities, not the benefits,” said David Milner of Create Streets.
“What works is cheap: trees in the ground, benches people want to sit on, clutter taken away.
“So much of what is built now seems to be temporary, looking more like road works than public realm improvements, so we encourage the concept of permanence; more trees in the ground, not in giant plant pots, for example.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We support local leaders to make decisions on pedestrianisation based on their communities’ needs.
“Our Hope on the High Street strategy will help local people revive town centres by protecting community assets, bringing derelict buildings back into use and tackling the spread of vape and gambling shops.
“Funding is available for local leaders to spend on their priorities, including pedestrianising and regenerating their high streets if they so wish.”
