High Street Regeneration and Rebranding Pushing Portas further: Life beyond the butcher, baker and candlestick maker

Abstract

A healthy independent retail sector, important as it is, will never be enough to revive the UK’s town centres. As the Portas Review indicated, a wide-ranging rethinking of the High Street is required. Putting such rethinking into practice will be a challenge. The immediate aftermath of the Portas Review has highlighted the pitfalls as well as the potential in current approaches. This paper asks whether the Portas Review and subsequent events have prepared the ground for real progress towards a new kind of high street. Drawing on a survey of practitioners and activists, it highlights the need for a common understanding of the challenges town centres face, and better approaches to project planning and sharing learning.