Charlotte Gilhooly

The urban renaissance of local shops has already started in some areas

This morning I was really happy to hear that Mary Portas has been assigned the task to carry out a government review to look at the problem of empty shops and what can be done to prevent the growth of  ’clone towns’.

The death of small independent shops and the rise of multiple chain stores is an issue close to my heart, I live above a small parade of shops and in the years I have lived in Sutton, Surrey,  I have seen my local post office, butchers, two florists, a bakers and a greengrocers all close down. But why is this happening?

Context

The Car: In recent years, according to Moseley (2000) (who has written substantially about the decline of local shops in rural areas in the UK) identified how the car has changed patterns of supply and demand, this means people are moving around differently and are no longer wedded to their local shops. This in turn has meant that people have more choice and so have the freedom to shop not just in their local area but also perhaps near where they work which could be miles away from where they live.

Peoples Quality of Life: Moseley (2000) and Gallent (2008) also identified as peoples quality of life have improved, so have peoples demand for better quality goods and more choice.

The Rise of the Supermarket: The supermarket can often soak up the money spent in the local economy (leaky bucket theory NEF) and has the advantage of economies of scale (they can order in massive quantities at a cheaper price). As a result they can sell goods more cheaply and local shops struggle to compete on price and by the range of goods sold in one place. The other aspect is that supermarkets are wonderfully convenient, – I am also guilty – I do most of my shopping at Sainsburies and Tescos (but I wish I didn’t).  The reason for this is that its convenient – I can get everything under one roof, they sell at a price I can afford, it has a level of quality that I trust, its open during hours that are convenient for me and I enjoy the food that I buy there.

The Internet: has changed patterns of supply and demand, people no longer have to shop locally, they can also shop on ebay, Amazon or search on Google for the lowest price goods – across the entire globe, so its not surprising that some local shops have suffered as people have so much more choice and are arguably more price sensitive.

Solutions

Moseley (2000) states that the the decline of shops in rural areas can be tackled either through government support, business initiative or through community action. I feel the same can be said for local shops in urban areas:

Government Support: Local authorities could provide support either through cross subsidy (where possible and appropriate) such as business rate discounts for local shops or funding to improve shop fronts (through shop development schemes), subsidised business training, or an easing of regulation. In one case, Moseley (2000) found a local authority eased planning regulation to enable a council flat to be turned into a post office for example.

Business Initiative: Some shops in rural areas are diversifying so that in some cases pubs take on the role of a post office and petrol stations are also selling fruit and vegetables in rural areas. The same can be done in urban areas.

Other shops in rural areas are expanding/changing what they sell to fit changes in demographics in local areas (such as processes of gentrification). Some convenience stores in rural areas are now renting out dvds, selling lottery tickets etc. Mary Portas’s TV programme tackled this problem by helping local shopkeepers to identify what local residents actually want to buy, creating a visual identity that embraces a business model and the businesses values and by providing excellent customer service.

Partnership Working: Moseley’s research (2000) found that some local shops bought produce together in order to be able to bulk buy and compete on price with supermarkets.

Voluntary Action: It is not uncommon for some local shops in rural areas to be staffed by volunteers. Shops have a social value and help to create community cohesion by encouraging interaction between people. There is no reason why this could not (if it is not already happening) take place in urban areas.

Creating Social Capital: According to Falk and Kilpatrick social capital can be encouraged by creating more interactions between people, street parties, cafes, good quality public space, car boot sales, jumble sales, summer fetes all help, in my opinion to create social capital.

Bottom Up Decision Making – Neighbourhood Planning: The new Localism Bill may be able to help local residents to have more of a say on where houses, shops and businesses get built in their local area. The main barriers to enable people to do this, according to Farnsworth are: obscure planning methodology, a culture of ‘we know best’ attitude amongst planners in local authorities, too much paper work, not enough results from communities involvement and not enough resources at local authorities disposal to engage effectively with communities.

Differentiate: In order for local shops to survive they need to provide a product/service that supermarkets cannot compete with; for example supermarkets do not provide great customer service (in my experience) and they do not have a great deal of flexibility to sell small quantities of things, which tends to leave out local produce for example.  Mary Portas has identified this flaw in supermarkets, one example is Clealls – a local shop in Corfe Castle  where the owners were losing £6000 a month because they were not selling what local residents wanted and the shop keepers hid away from people in the local community. Mary Portas turned this around by finding out what residents wanted – which was local produce (in plentiful supply in and around Corfe Castle) and shopekeepers who took part in the local community.

Go Mary!

References:

Farnsworth, D, 2011. A Network Route to Localism in Planning. Town and Country Planning Journal, (March 2011 p128-132)

Gallent, N, Juntti, M, Kidd, S, Shaw, D, 2008. Introduction to Rural Planning. Oxon: Routledge.

Moseley, M. 2000. England’s village services in the late 1990’s: entrpreneuralism, community involvement and the state. [Online pdf] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/pss/40112435 [17/05/11]

A few weeks ago I went to the Museum of London where I came across a picture of a cattle fountain in Sloane Square as part of the London Street Photography Exhibition. I immediately recognised it having spent a lot of time completing an urban design project here. What I found interesting is that the cattle fountain — no longer in use, is still there today, but why?

The cattle fountain is durable as it is made from marble and is probably as sturdy as the day it was installed. Maybe it has become forgotten about as London moved into the age of the car and Sloane Square gradually became more and more inaccessible and an unpleasant place to sit. It could be that even though it no longer has a use it is still appreciated for its beauty…

The cattle fountain is part of what makes me fascinated about cities. It is the historical layering of the built environment which intrigues me and what helps to make the built environment unique.

Yesterday I attended Adam Greenfield’s walkshop around Holborn, where I was really surprised to learn about the level of digital infrastructure that overlays our city. This is stuff that I block out unconsciously. For example I regularly use Holborn Station and I did not notice the fact that there was a Business Improvement District kiosk (with a digital screen) outside, a noise sensor to measure noise levels and by consequence the numbers of people outside Holborn Station or the QR codes on the bus stops.

We also found cctv cameras pretty much everywhere, but one particularly interesting one is a panopticon style cctv camera outside the Central St Martins Innovation Centre. Other things included sensors on the road which register traffic movements, (the only way you can tell this is the case is by noticing lines in the road left over by construction and a very small box attached to a lampost.) We also noticed antennas on top of traffic signals and buildings, parking meters with overly beaurocratic rules and a Boris bike station which has sensors built in to register bikes leaving the station as well as docking into the station.

Key Lessons and Questions

• The importance of design in maps ie. Legible London maps on Boris bike plinths provide a service for pedestrians as well as cyclists – people intuitively understand what a physical maps purpose is in the built environment but do not necessarily understand a digital screen where its purpose may be ambiguous. I have to say that many of the digital screens I have seen in London, do not seem to work, or you are slightly scared of touching them because of getting dirt on your hands. Maybe digital screens are not as durable as a physical map?

• The whole experience helped me to become more conscious of the city and particularly understand the sensing and digital infrastructure that overlays it.

• Questions were raised by Greenfield about the necessity of cctv cameras – do we need them everywhere or do we just need them in locations where there is a real threat like Trafalgar Square, and the Houses of Parliament? Statistics show that in London cctv cameras do not significantly help to reduce crime.

• The whole debate on democratic process and accountability in the creation of Business Improvement Districts and how these ‘place branding’ concepts are often commercially driven.

• Ideas around social equity which justifies available infrastructure such as telephone boxes. Also what was interesting about telephone boxes is that their purpose and importance changes over time, sometimes they become advertising spaces, urinals or they facilitate the ability to make anonymous phone calls (only if you cannot be seen by cctv!) something which is becoming more difficult to achieve and perhaps more valued as time goes on.

• Should digital physical infrastructure be more clearly identifiable?

• Issues around peoples personal open data – why don’t we have access to it?

Books recommended

The Work Anatomy of the City

Ground Control

Do people like sitting with their back to traffic? This has not been my experience. While walking past Byng Place in Bloomsbury on Friday, everyone who was sitting down was sitting with their back to railings or a wall. No one was sitting in the seats with their back to traffic.