The way high streets function has fundamentally changed, and we need to start prioritising their social value over their monetary value for the benefit of local communities.
Image of shoppers at the self-service fresh meat cabinets in a Southampton branch of Sainsbury’s in 1954.
Donald S. Herbert/Sainsbury archive
Since the 2010s boosting retail has been the government’s primary remedy for better high street health. Without centering the community these street serve, though, plans are likely to fail.
Roadsides have long been reserved for parking cars, but the pandemic led to many experiments with other ways of using scarce and valuable public space. We can put it to better and more flexible uses.
Debenhams’ 242-year history is being reduced to a brand.
Sam Mellish/Alamy
Interim Director, UWA Public Policy Institute; Associate Professor & Programme Co-ordinator (Masters of Public Policy), The University of Western Australia