Author: Leigh Sparks
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January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
April 2022 -new journal article published (Journal Articles page) on Twenty-One Years of Going Shopping and Marketing History
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- A Japanese Eataly? In Singapore?
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- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- Who Owns Scotland's Towns, High Streets and Shopping Centres?
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Tag Archives: Understanding Scottish Places
Town Centres in Wales: Bounded Muscularity?
A few months ago I, together with Phil Prentice (STP), had a long discussion with representatives of Audit Wales around enhancing town centres. This came in the wake of the review I chaired, and the report I authored, for the … Continue reading
Posted in Car Parking, Government, High Streets, Out of Town, Places, Regeneration, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
Tagged Audit Wales, Bridgend, Car Dependency, Foundation Economy Research, Non-domestic rates, Place, Regeneration, Retailing, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Tax, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, Wales
2 Comments
Scotland’s Towns Partnership: A (Covid) Year in Review
Towards the end of each May, thoughts at Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) often turn reflective. As we head towards our Annual Towns Tea Party and our AGM (2nd June), we look back on the year. This year has of course … Continue reading
Posted in Bids Scotland, Covid19, High Streets, Local Authorities, Pandemic, Place Standard, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged Bids Scotland, Covid-19, Pandemic, Place Standard, Scotland Loves Local, Scotland's Improvement Districts, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, towns, Understanding Scottish Places
1 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
4 Comments
“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
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Putting Towns on the Policy Map: Understanding Scottish Places (USP) and Data
As an academic, I probably have an irrational interest in data. To a great extent it is academic life-blood and I seem to have spent a lot of my adult life either obsessing or arguing over it. It therefore really … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Bill Grimsey, Consumer Change, Data, High Streets, Internet shopping, Large Store Levy, Leadership, Local Authorities, Online Retailing, Rates, Retail Change, Retailers, Sales, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Understanding Scottish Places
Tagged Business rates, Data, Fraser review, Grimsey Review, High Streets, Local Authorities, Online retailing, Retail Change, Retail Data, Scotland, scottish retail consortium, Shops, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
1 Comment
Understanding Welsh Places
Since the development of Understanding Scottish Places (USP) there has been a lot of interest in both the development itself and its potential to be replicated in other countries. At events in Scotland and when STP and others have presented … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Carnegie UK Trust, CLES, Data, Local Authorities, Places, Planning, Relationships, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Small Towns, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Towns Typology, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, University of Stirling, Wales
Tagged Carnegie UK Trust, CLES, Data, Inter-relationships, Places, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, Understanding Welsh Places, USP
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So you think you know Scottish Towns?
Almost two years ago, Scotland’s Towns Partnership launched Understanding Scottish Places (USP) – a data platform to provide for the very first time consistent and comparable data on 479 Scottish Towns. At a time when funding is tight, there was … Continue reading
Posted in Carnegie UK Trust, Data, Institute for Retail Studies, Local Authorities, Places, Planning, Research, Retail Policy, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Towns Typology, Understanding Scottish Places, University of Stirling, USP
Tagged Carnegie UK Trust, CLES, Data, Scotland, Scotland's Towns Partnership, towns, Understanding Scottish Places, University of Stirling, USP
1 Comment
From the Scottish Government’s National Review of Town Centres to the World Towns Summit
Downloadable versions of this post are available here (word) and here (pdf). The attraction of many international delegates to the inaugural World Towns Summit in Edinburgh in June 2016 was eloquent testimony to the perception that Scotland has led the … Continue reading
Posted in Bids Scotland, Charrettes, Community, Cross Party Group, Development Trusts, Government, High Streets, Place Standard, Places, Planning, Policy, Proactive Planning, Regeneration, Retail Change, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action Plan, town centre first, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Towns, Understanding Scottish Places, USP, World Towns Framework, WTLS16
Tagged Bids Scotland, Cross Party Group, Development Trusts, National Review of Town Centres, Places, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Government, Town Centre Action plan, Town Centres, Understanding Scottish Places, World Towns Leadership Summit
4 Comments
Super Thursday?
Last Thursday was dubbed Super Thursday by a number of analysts due to the sheer volume of results, trading updates and other news expected from retail companies. It did not disappoint in that Morrisons sold off their convenience stores and … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Competition, Convenience stores, Discounters, Discounts, Food Retailing, Lidl, Local Retailers, Multichannel, Places, Post Offices, Pound Shops, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
Tagged Aldi, Competition, Discounters, Lidl, Musselburgh, Pound shops, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
2 Comments
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