Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2021 – Journal Articles page updated with two new academic papers in Planning, Theory and Practice, and Sustainability, joining our Ageing & Society paper
March 2021 – Personal Biography redesigned and updated
January 2021 – Updates of Media Commentary and Journal Articles page structures
Top Posts & Pages
- Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020
- Brexit isn't Delivering
- The Scottish Diet and Retail Shops
- Tesco Trails
- Albert Gubay 1928-2016
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- Retail Disruptors - the spectacular rise and impact of the hard discounters
- Feargal Quinn 1936-2019
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
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Tag Archives: BIDs
St James Quarter – curating and change
Last week saw the opening of parts of the St James Quarter in Edinburgh. Conceived a long time ago, and without any conception of the possibilities and impact of a global pandemic, the centre is in some ways of a … Continue reading
Posted in Aberdeen, BIDS, City Centres, Edinburgh, John Lewis Partnership, Pandemic, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scottish Retailing, Shopping Centres, St James Quarter, Uncategorized
Tagged Aberdeen, Aberdeen Inspired, BIDs, City Centres, Commuting, Edinburgh, John Lewis, Pandemic, Princes St, Retail Change, St James Quarter, Tourism
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COVID-19: How Scotland’s Improvement Districts are supporting businesses and communities
In any normal year, we would be meeting at this time in Holyrood for the Annual Parliamentary Reception for the Cross Party Group on Towns and Town Centres. This of course is no normal year. The event is instead being … Continue reading
Posted in Bids Scotland, Covid19, Cross Party Group, Government, Local Authorities, Localisation, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized
Tagged BIDs, Bids Scotland, Covid-19, Cross Party Group, Localism, Pandemic, Recovery, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament
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
Trading Places: our Town and Country Planning Columns
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 BIDs, Bookmakers, Business rates, Consumer change, Farm Shops, High Streets, Obesity, Planning, Pop-Up Shops, Rates, Retail, Retail Change, retail parks, Retail Planning, TCPA, Town and Country Planning, Town Centres
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World Towns Leadership Summit, 15-16 June 2016, Edinburgh
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 ATCM, BIDs, Bids Scotland, Civic, Downtown, IDA, Leadership, Place-Making, Places, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, Urban
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East Kilbride and the Forth Road Bridge
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 BIDs, East Kilbride, Fife, Forth Road Bridge, History, Local Retailing, New Towns, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action plan, towns
1 Comment
Social Spaces and Places
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 BIDs, Co-operatives, Cooperative Movement, High Streets, Places, Retailing, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centres, towns
2 Comments
No (digital) place like home?
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 BIDs, Communications, Digital, Home, Identity, Internet, Places, Scotland, Shopping Centres, towns
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Town Centre Action Plan – One Year On
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 BIDs, Debate, Digital, Fraser review, Government, Scotland's Towns, Scotland's Towns Conference, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Town Centre Action plan
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Business Improvement Districts: Recent Successes in Scotland
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
