{"id":66742,"date":"2019-11-05T08:45:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T08:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=66742"},"modified":"2019-11-05T08:45:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T08:45:03","slug":"high-street-placemake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/high-street-placemake\/66742\/","title":{"rendered":"The future of the high street: Fewer products and more people"},"content":{"rendered":"

High streets are facing challenging times as shopping shifts online and empty units multiply. Earlier this year, a committee of MPs warned that major, long-term changes are needed to secure the future of town centres. David Edwards of Place-Make<\/a> says that amid the grim forecasts, there are nevertheless reasons to be optimistic<\/h2>\n

The latest figures show that the real high street is losing the battle with the virtual marketplace \u2013 retail sales and occupancy rates were down compared with the same period last year while the ratio of internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales continues to rise.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is no surprise \u2013 we are getting used to hearing about declining sales on the high street. However, the gradual breakdown of our town and city centres<\/a> has far-reaching implications beyond shopping; less footfall and active frontages with passive surveillance leads to an increase in antisocial behaviour and a reduced sense of security. It is the beginning of a downward spiral that culminates in the \u201cdoughnut\u201d effect \u2013 a term that was used to describe the empty downtown of Detroit when the city declared bankruptcy in 2013.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a select committee of MPs conducted a six-month review<\/a>\u00a0of the state of high streets and town centres. Having considered multiple factors from shopping trends and business rates to access and appearance, the inquiry concluded:<\/p>\n