With reference to one or more examples, evaluate the success of redevelopment of urban centres in response to recent trends in retailing.
With reference to one or more examples, evaluate the success of redevelopment of urban centres in response to recent trends in retailing.
Redevelopment is the process of improving cleared or undeveloped land, including construction of buildings and other facilities by public or private developers.
Recent retail trends have had many negative impacts to urban centres in the past; whether it is from out-of-town retail or CBD decline, but some manage to flourish alongside, mainly due to management such as redevelopment keeping it alive.
My main example for this, is Reading, a large town located in south-west England, on the M4. The centre is ever-changing, but since 1969 work on the centre has been boosted, especially in terms of redevelopment, due to several large out-of-town retail centres, such as Forbury Park. So, the retail in the centre needed improvements to bring people back in. A large part of it was the pedestrianisation of broad street in 1970 – making the centre car-free, leaving a much greater capacity for shopping, as well as making it safer and more attractive to those potential spenders.