THE PROBLEM OF EMPTY SHOPS IN OUR TOWN CENTRES IS NOTHING NEW, AND NEITHER IS THE SOLUTION A RADICAL ONE Town centres have always shifted and changed, but the massive shift of the last 30 years has turned out to be something of a dead end. Our town centres became dominated by big chain retailers, with the end result that everywhere was the same and nowhere was special. That model of retail was backed by big finance, and the injection of cash drove rent prices ever higher, driving out the remaining small, independent retailers. The convenience and the reduced costs of the internet traders seemed to be the final act, and ten years ago the experts were certain that the curtain was coming down on the High Street. But other people, running small arts organisations and involved in community organising, were seeing something different. Yes, Woolworths and BHS and Our Price were closing - but who, really, loved them? The days when these shops created any buzz, the days when teenagers were eager for a new outfit from Burtons or when British Home Stores meant quality, were long gone. And around the country, there were other - more exciting - models that still worked. North Laine in Brighton had lost its Tesco years ago, and that space had filled first with a crazy, anarchic indoor market and then with a cabaret theatre. Around it were independent clothes stores, vintage shops, and successful record stores. And artists were filling the spaces that were empty, huge group shows in basements and pop up galleries in shops. In Leeds, the old Kirkgate Market was still thriving, while the grand old Victorian covered arcades just a few steps away had become a destination for lovers of high-end fashion. And nearby, artists were again turning spaces into temporary galleries. The faded seaside town of Margate was planning a bold new art gallery to attract tourists, and to test the idea had filled a vast former Marks & Spencer store with contemporary art. A whole festival grew up around the smaller empty shops in the Old Town. Coventry was home to one artist-led project after another, facilitated by a city council that owned vast amounts of the city centre. Theatre Absolute turned an old fish and chip shop into a theatre space dedicated to new writing, Vortex Creates filled spaces with colourful sculptures, and after years of theatrical interventions Talking Birds asked artists to imagine all the empty spaces filled with art as they created a Virtual Fringe - inspiring a successful City of Culture bid. And interestingly - they were not about bold new build developments and shiny shopping centres, but about finding interesting new uses for old buildings. All of them were interested in the heritage of the built environment, and in saving overlooked architectural gems. “Only a fool will build in defiance of the past. What is new and significant always must be grafted on to old roots, the truly vital roots that are chosen with great care from the ones that merely survive.” (Béla Bartók, 1962) All of these interventions - from a small group of artists working together to stage a show in one shop to the public funded interventions transforming huge spaces, from pop ups that last a weekend to semi- permanent occupation of old spaces - are united in trying to answer one question: What’s next? The truth is, we can make a very good educated guess. Town and city centres will survive as long as they provide a mix of activity, that happens at all times of the day, and when they appeal to a broad range of people. This isn’t a new idea: Jane Jacobs wrote about it in the 1950s. But we had forgotten it, allowing our town centres to become dominated by one use, that drove out all the others. We need a balance of retail and workspace, of places to live and spaces to play, of formal civic uses and informal social ones. What we’re seeing isn’t a reinvention of the High Street. Nothing we’re seeing is new, from the baker to the pottery studio, the sewing room to the maker space. These aren’t new ideas, but ones which had been pushed out of the High Street by those big retail chains. What’s happening is a rewilding of the High Street. An ecology that had been damaged by big box retail and the clone town is being allowed to revert to its natural, balanced state. Both Ramsgate and Ryde have seen glimpses of a different future. The two harbour towns have plenty in common - hovercraft, ferries, and the paddlesteamer Medway Queen, connections to royalty, prominent churches visible from the sea, Karl Marx. And both have faced similar problems, around the decline of both tourism and port industry. So now it’s your turn, in your town, to imagine what the future holds. Take one of these heritage buildings and, with coloured pencils and unleashed creativity, decide what Ryde or Ramsgate need next. A sewing workshop, a sweet factory, new homes, a small theatre, somewhere to play, or a reimagined bookshop - it’s entirely up to you. Dig in, and let’s rewild the High Street. Dan Thompson founded the Empty Shops Network in 2008, to share the knowledge and skills we need to make the High Street and the town centre part of the community again. https://emptyshops.wordpress.com/
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