{"id":80298,"date":"2020-08-03T11:38:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T10:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=80298"},"modified":"2022-04-22T09:48:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T08:48:59","slug":"town-centre-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/town-centre-recovery\/80298\/","title":{"rendered":"How agile, data-driven strategies will drive high street recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Town centres already struggling with changing shopping habits and shifting footfall have been put under extreme stress by Covid-19. The road to recovery will depend on agile, data-driven decision making, says Steve Scott, executive leader of GHD Advisory UK<\/a><\/h2>\n

Over the last few years, the problems of viability in our city and town centres have been well publicised. The headlines have been dominated by the difficulties faced by retailers, but our high streets are much more than this \u2013 acting as hubs for work, services and activities on which our communities rely.<\/p>\n

Their importance is emphasised by the fact that around one in six of the British population lives within 200m of a high street<\/a>, and recent population growth in our centres has outstripped that in non-high street areas.<\/p>\n

This decline in the fortunes of our city and town centres has been accelerated by Covid-19. But this accelerated decline is differentiated by the fact it is being driven by \u201cbehavioural\u201d change, with the adverse economic impact being the outcome and not the cause.<\/p>\n

The Covid-19<\/a> lockdown is challenging how we think about many aspects of our lives and our societal\/behavioural \u2018dials\u2019 have been forced off the scale. The key questions for recovery are when, how and where the behavioural dial will reset.<\/p>\n

Getting on the road to recovery<\/h3>\n

The road to recovery will take place in a context of constant change. The impact of Covid-19 on behaviours will develop over time: macroeconomic outcomes will depend on policy, stimulus and investment, while local economic success will depend on how we react to the change. However, short-term actions need to be formulated and immediate outcomes delivered post-Covid-19 to stimulate local economic recovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our town and city centres will need to accelerate recovery, compete for new expenditure and footfall, and change the business model to align to new realities. Strategies will need to embrace change, partnership and dynamism.<\/p>\n

In this context, the road to recovery needs to be agile, flexible and data-driven. Future strategies will need to be based on understanding behaviours, how they change over time and the impact this has on the economy. Strategy needs to take a more iterative approach to change and develop incremental steps towards a new future. Now is the time to transform the rule book and take a proactive approach to strategy that includes being:<\/p>\n