Tag Archives: BIDs

Scotland’s Towns – a decade of learning (hopefully)

Posted on April 3, 2019 by

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Trading Places: our Town and Country Planning Columns

Posted on August 8, 2018 by

In 2012 Anne Findlay and I attempted to take over from Professor Cliff Guy who had provided the Trading Places columns in Town and Country Planning for 12 years.  In the subsequent 6 years we have produced 23 columns, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Alcohol, BIDS, Bill Grimsey, Bookmakers, Consumer Change, Consumers, Farm Shops, Food Retailing, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, Mary Portas, Places, Planning, Pop-Up Shops, Proactive Planning, Rates, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Parks, Retail Planning, Retail Policy, Social Inequality, Town & Country PLanning, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

World Towns Leadership Summit, 15-16 June 2016, Edinburgh

Posted on April 21, 2016 by

This is a reblog from Scotland’s Towns Partnership, about what I think should be an important and interesting event in Edinburgh in June:   Join international town and urban leaders for a world first, taking place in Scotland in June … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Leadership, Places, Public Realm, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Social Inequality, Social Justice, Towns, Urban | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

East Kilbride and the Forth Road Bridge

Posted on April 11, 2016 by

Yes, I was a geographer, and I am fully aware that the Forth Road Bridge does not go through East Kilbride!  Most recently of course the Forth Road Bridge has not been connecting anything or anywhere.  Without belittling the impact … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Can Do Towns, Carnegie UK Trust, Closure, Consumer Choice, East Kilbride, Fife, Forth Road Bridge, Local Retailers, New Towns, Places, Relationships, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Social Spaces and Places

Posted on March 10, 2016 by

A number of my colleagues have at times questioned why I bother with this retail blog or engage with Twitter. They tend to view such activity as essentially pointless or potentially taking them away from their research and other activity. … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, BIDS, Community, Community Co-operatives, Community Development, Cooperatives, Development Trusts, High Streets, Places, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, USP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

No (digital) place like home?

Posted on August 20, 2015 by

Over the last few years I have had several very interesting conversations with Simon Baldwin about the role of digital and social media in the development and maintenance of places, towns and BIDs. In response to my last post on … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Digital, Home, Internet, Places, Scotland, Social media, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Town Centre Action Plan – One Year On

Posted on November 5, 2014 by

At the Scotland’s Towns Partnership Conference in Inverness last November, I extracted a pledge/promise (but most definitely not a vow) from the Towns Minister Derek Mackay to, one year on, reflect on progress against his Town Centre Action Plan (TCAP). … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Government, High Streets, Local Data Company, Planning, Public Realm, Rates, Regeneration, Rents, Retail Planning, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Business Improvement Districts: Recent Successes in Scotland

Posted on July 21, 2014 by

The closing weeks of June saw three successful ballots for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in Scotland and further local endorsement and expansion of the “BIDs family” across the country. 18th June: Dunfermline Delivers welcomes a reaffirmation from its local business … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Community, Governance, High Streets, Retail Levy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Town Centre Review, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Your Town Centre: An Innovation Challenge

Posted on May 13, 2014 by

“See the world as you want it to be, not the way it is” There’s been much discussion over the last few years about the need for a new narrative or story for Scotland’s Town Centres, not least in the … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Community Development, Development Trusts, Entrepreneurship, Government, Innovation, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Review, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Regeneration – of Place and People?

Posted on March 26, 2014 by

I attended a couple of events at the end of last week which caused me to feel a little more positive about some of the things going on in Scotland in terms of retailing and towns. On Thursday I was … Continue reading →

Posted in BIDS, Charrettes, Community Development, Government, Heritage, High Streets, Historic Shops, Places, Regeneration, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Stirling, Town Centre Review, Town Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment