Author: Leigh Sparks
Follow me on Twitter
My TweetsPage Updates
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
October 2020 – Additions of recent articles in Social Science & Medicine and Marketing Theory to the Journal Article section
Top Posts & Pages
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Reclaim the High Street - Midsteeple Quarter, Dumfries Crowdfunder
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- National Review of Town Centres
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- 2020 - my year in articles
- Scotland's Shops and Shopfronts: history and future?
- Town Centre Regeneration - Learning Lessons?
- Regeneration - of Place and People?
- "The Preston Model": Community Wealth Building
Writing About ...
Archives
- Follow Stirlingretail on WordPress.com
Blogroll
Meta
RSS Feed
Category Archives: Town Centre Action Plan
Reclaim the High Street – Midsteeple Quarter, Dumfries Crowdfunder
Community ownership of assets breathing new life into centres across Scotland has been a theme, and a success of recent years. There is still much more to be done, and it needs to be made easier and simpler, but we … Continue reading
Posted in Carnegie UK Trust, Community, Community Assets, Community Ownership, Development Trusts, Dumfries, Local Authorities, Midsteeple Quarter, Places, Regeneration, Reinvention, Resilience, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Planner, Small Shops, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged Buildings, Community Assets, Community owernship, Crowdfunder, Dumfries, High Street, Midsteeple Quarter, Redevelopment, town centre
Leave a comment
Scottish Planner December 2020:A Future for Town & City Centres
A few months ago Craig McLaren (@RTPIScotland) asked me to contribute a short piece to a special issue of Scottish Planner. I readily agreed and am delighted that it has now been published. I cover the things you might expect … Continue reading
Posted in 20 Minute Neighbourhood, Cities, Dumfries, Government, High Streets, Local Authorities, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Policy, Proactive Planning, Public Policy, Regeneration, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Planner, Simplified Planning Zones, Town & Country PLanning, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Fuiture Towns, High Streets, Planning, Scotland, Scottish Planner, TCAP Review, town centre first, Town Centres, Town Planning
1 Comment
Build Back Better: Bill Grimsey and Covid
When Mary Portas produced her report for the UK Government on high streets, Bill Grimsey was quick to posit an alternative and to focus on leadership and technology for places. His report and its follow-up a few years later have … Continue reading
Posted in Bill Grimsey, CLES, Community, Consumers, Covid19, Government, High Streets, Leadership, Local Authorities, Mary Portas, Places, Proactive Planning, Public Policy, Regulation, Reinvention, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Social Justice, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Uncategorized
Tagged Build Back Better, CLES, Covid-19, Grimsey, High Streets, Leadership, Localism, Pandemic, Portas, Recovery, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Social Renewal, Suatainability, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centres
2 Comments
Scotland’s Towns Conference 2019
One of the now established features of Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Scotland’s Towns Week is the Annual Conference. For many years it has been located in the Central Belt, but for 2019 it relocated to Aberdeen. There are many good … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, Amsterdam, BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, Cork, Creative Places, Development Trusts, Healthy Ageing, High Streets, Local Authorities, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Small Towns, Streetscapes, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Urban
Tagged Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Bids Scotland, Cork, Healthy Places, Localisation, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scotland's Towns Week
Leave a comment
Towns and Town Centres in Scotland: reflections six years on from Fraser
I was recently asked to do a 10 minute reflection on the state of towns and town centres in Scotland and the work that has derived from the Fraser Review (the National Review of Town Centres) and from Scotland’s Towns Partnership. … Continue reading
Posted in BIDS, Bids Scotland, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Creative Places, Development Trusts, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, Local Authorities, Mary Portas, Online Retailing, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Policy, Rates, Regeneration, Reinvention, Rents, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, TCRF, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged Digital tax, Fraser review, Place Standard, Portas, Rates, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centre Review, Understanding Scottish Places, VAT
2 Comments
The Future of Shopping Centres in Scotland’s Towns
There is no doubt that retailing is undergoing a major transformation. In popular press terms this is the ‘death of the high street’, a phrase which is wrong on so many levels; it is not the death and it is … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Government, High Streets, Kirkcaldy, Local Authorities, Malls, Paisley, Places, Policy, Public Realm, Regeneration, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailers, Retailing, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, Spaces, Streetscapes, Sustainable Development, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, University of Stirling
Tagged DWF, Future, High Street, Local Authorities, Malls, Paisley, Retailing, Revo, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Shopping Centres, Stockton
2 Comments
Scotland’s Towns – a decade of learning (hopefully)
As this post is published (3 April) I am presenting at an event held to formally launch Scotland’s Town Centre Boost Fund of £50m. The Town Centre Fund has been set up by Scottish Government and COSLA and aims “to … Continue reading
Posted in Government, High Streets, Place Standard, Places, Regeneration, Retail Change, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Welsh Places, USP
Tagged BIDs, COSLA, High Streets, National Review of Town Centres, Place Principle, Scotland, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Towh Centre Boost Fund, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centres, USP
1 Comment
“Destination High Street – Restoring Vibrancy to Scotland’s Towns”
The invitation from the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) and the Scottish Civic Trust was to present a keynote address to their conference on ‘Destination High Street’. As both Professor of Retail Studies and Chair, Scotland’s Towns Partnership I … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, BIDS, Buildings, Community, Community Development, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Creative Places, Design, Development Trusts, Environmental Quality, Government, High Streets, Historic Shops, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Places, Public Realm, Rates, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Small Towns, Social Inequality, Streets, Streetscapes, Tax, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Living, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Urban
Tagged Community, Consumers, Digital, Heritage, High Street, National Review of Town Centres, Places, Rates, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Town Centres, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Tax, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places
Leave a comment