Offering hope to town centres

7 April 2011

Policy Director Ross Martin & Professor Leigh Sparks published a piece in this week's Scotsman on town centres. They argued that:

"We have to rethink and re-invigorate our town centres. We have to re-imagine and re-define their roles. We have to ask fundamental questions as to their function and place in modern society and then decide how we look at, and after, them".

Thus, we have to ensure that:

• The Town Centre Regeneration Fund (TCRF) is re-created.
• All action promoting town centre activity is co-ordinated and concerted
• We measure where we are, assess what works and dump what does not.
• Funding streams are repositioned and focused to drive activity within town centres.
• Local solutions are encouraged, tried and supported
• Policies for town centres are aligned and implemented.

To read the rest of this piece click here.