Search results

Calls for empirical and theory-based outcome measures in the place marketing literature are made more pressing as policymakers manage post-COVID high street recovery. This study aims to evaluate how knowledge of repeat buying established in the consumer marketing domain might be adapted to benchmark place marketing effectiveness, applying the Law of Double Jeopardy to capture the predictable relationship between footfall and visit frequency on competing high streets.

The authors match footfall and survey data collected simultaneously on nine local high streets in one London borough to ask if a predictable Double Jeopardy relationship exists. The authors then test the theoretical assumptions of independence that underpin the Law in patterns of switching; the predictable distribution of regular, infrequent and new visitors; and the absence of user segmentation.

The authors observe that Double Jeopardy constrains behavioural outcomes, that a simple model fits high street footfall data well and that its theoretical assumptions are supported.

This paper makes several practical and theoretical contributions. The authors demonstrate a method to model expected repeat visit frequency from footfall density and elaborate footfall data into its frequency classes. The authors also locate the effects of loyalty over time within existing knowledge of spatial competition for high street patronage and demonstrate how place marketing insights can be derived from applications of this useful law.

The purpose of this paper is to document the results and the impact of the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020), a project designed to take the existing academic knowledge relating to retail and high street change directly to UK High Streets, to improve local decision-making and, ultimately, their vitality and viability.

Through a systematic literature review, and by following the tenets of engaged scholarship, the authors identified 201 factors that influence the vitality and viability of town centres. Through the consensus-building Delphi technique, a panel of 20 retail experts identified the top 25 priorities for action.

Taking a place management approach led to the development of a more strategic framework for regeneration, which consisted of repositioning, reinventing, rebranding and restructuring strategies (4R’s of regeneration). Collaboration with the project towns resulted in identification of the strategy area that would add the most value, and the impact of the 4R’s and the top 25 priorities is demonstrated via numerous town examples.

Knowledge exchange projects, such as High Street UK2020, have an important contribution to make, not by developing even more theory that is unlikely to get utilised, instead their contribution is to bring existing theory into practical use.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how independent social and commercial activities have developed in response to the perceived decline in the UK High Street and in response to the challenges of increasing digital retailing opportunities. This examination is undertaken through the lens of the social supply chain as a means to understanding, suggesting and expanding on current research regarding retailing and the UK High Street. The authors reveal some of the challenges being posed by the changing patterns of growth and consumption in cities and couple these with shifting supply chain trends.

A case study approach is used to explore the rapid advances and influence of digital technologies on businesses operating on the primary business street of suburban centre, towns or cities (described in the UK collectively as the “high street”). The research is conducted through the analytical lens of the social supply chain.

Theoretically extending the “social” in the social supply chain, the authors illustrate the usefulness of the nuanced concept of the “social supply chain” with two related strategies concerning delivery and balance. These strategies are themselves interlinked with the actions of co-creation, co-production and co-consumption. Examples of social supply chain strategies presented include retail businesses giving away something as an incentive, where the underlying requirement from the customer is that they will bring their own specialist product, skill or social network to a specified location (real or virtual).

For the purpose of this paper, the authors use two distinct strategies relating to delivery and balancing and in relation to the actions of co-creation, co-production and co-consumption to emphasise and analyse changes currently occurring in the UK High Street. The authors take a social supply chain management (SCM) perspective to undertake a systematic critical review of the various recent efforts undertaken by local governments, communities and trader groups to revitalise the High Street.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce engaged scholarship as a method for addressing the “wicked problem” of High Street change through successful collaboration and co-production of knowledge between academics, practitioners, citizens and other place stakeholders.

The first part of this paper introduces engaged scholarship as a participatory form of research and situates it within the context of the High Street. The second part presents the case of High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) via Van de Ven’s diamond model of engaged scholarship as a guide.

Engaged scholarship’s focus on knowledge production and on collaboration between the research team and the community enabled us to improve the understanding of factors affecting High Streets amongst a diverse group of stakeholders and focus on what works for the towns. The ongoing impact of HSUK2020 on the project towns’ action plans and on this current research is testament to how engaged scholarship research can drive the agendas for both academics and communities.

The paper presents engaged scholarship as an alternative collaborative method of conducting research on the High Street, one that is more in line with the current trends in retailing and works as a motivating factor for community engagement.

Many national retailers have complained about increases in business rates tax bills since the 2017 revaluation. What impact has the 2017 business rates revaluation had on independent high street retailers in market towns in the north of England? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study uses Valuation Office Agency rating list data to determine rateable value and business rates payable for independent high street retailers in eight northern market towns either side of the 2017 rating revaluation. The data were analysed using business rates matrices to reveal the impact of the new rating list on independent retailers in the eight locations.

Analysis reveals that the majority of independent retailers in the northern market towns sampled have experienced reductions in both the rateable value of their premises and business rates payable. Increase in the rates relief threshold has extended relief to almost half of the independent retailers in the study, most of whom receive 100 per cent relief.

Charity shops receive at least 80 per cent rates relief which means they are able to afford to pay higher rents. This “sets the tone” for landlords setting market rents in that location which are then used as comparable evidence by the VOA when determining rateable values at revaluation further polarising the gap between rate payers and those to are exempt.

Focussing on independent retailers on high streets in markets towns in north of England, this study provides an alternative perspective to the orthodox view of business rates revaluations having a negative impact on retailers.

The purpose of this short article is to outline a research agenda to further our understanding of how retail areas are influenced by, and adapt to, change. This is part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project High Street UK 2020.

We outline a research agenda – containing factors which High Street stakeholders in Alsager, Altrincham, Ballymena, Barnsley, Bristol, Congleton, Holmfirth, Market Rasen, Morley and Wrexham have identified as influencing the vitality and viability of their retail areas. Currently, there is little or no academic evidence available to support these factors; therefore, they are worthy of further research.

The towns assert that the following factors influence High Street performance (either positively or negatively) and need further research: business support; engagement and engaged businesses; fragmentation; information; Internet connectivity; local knowledge; measuring economic impact/value; media coverage; networking; public sector dependency and risk aversion.

Only 10 towns have taken part in the research. Nevertheless, they are representative of the research-user community for retail centre research.

This research agenda will enable researchers to respond to a clear gap in our knowledge about High Street performance, as identified by towns themselves.

By undertaking the research that people that manage retail areas need, it will enable practitioners to make better informed decisions and manage these important areas more effectively to the benefit of their local communities.

By allowing town centre managers, traders, council members/officials and “concerned citizens” to set the agenda for research production in the area of retail centre change, we anticipate forthcoming research in this area will be more highly valued by practitioners and have more impact in “the real world”.

As a core element of the marketing mix, place is of central concern within marketing. Yet existing literature typically presents accounts of research about rather than with places. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to argue that engaged scholarship can help academics, practitioners, policymakers and communities to work collaboratively to solve place-based “wicked problems”. Specifically, this paper focuses on high street revitalisation, a challenge frustrating policymakers and communities since the 1980s.

This paper draws on a mixed-method research project conducted with place-based stakeholders in Manchester, the UK, to discuss the benefits and challenges arising through an engaged scholarship approach.

The authors outline several benefits to engaged scholarship, including forming tailored solutions to place-based problems, engendering trust and ongoing research partnerships and generating real-world impact beyond the academy. However, the authors also draw attention to the challenges including political sensitivities within places, additional layers of scrutiny and challenges to dissemination arising through partnership working with organisations external to the university.

Whereas a range of techniques have been used to research places within marketing, engaged scholarship is lacking. This paper, therefore, provides first-hand insights into the benefits and challenges that the authors experienced using the approach. This is of significance because of the rising importance of generating real-world impact within the academy, which the authors feel requires more institutional support. This paper also suggests Van de Ven’s diamond model of engaged scholarship extends to encompass issues of research governance.

To overview the gamut of issues that on-street parking impacts in mixed-use centers including: parking demand, land use, vehicle speed, road safety, the pedestrian environment, and travel behaviors.

In addition to reviewing existing literature, the following two case studies are presented. The first study explores the impact in centers built before the advent of parking regulations as compared to more contemporary, conventional developments. The second study investigates how street design factors affected vehicle speeds and safety, based on a study of over 250 roads.

On-street parking typically: serves the highest demand; is efficient in terms of land use and cost; induces lower vehicle speeds; increases safety on low-speed streets; enhances walkability; and fosters less driving, more pedestrian activity, and increased vitality.

On-street parking is one piece of a larger puzzle of complementary factors that influence issues such as travel behavior and safety, and therefore, it is difficult to isolate. On-street parking plays a crucial role in helping create places that are walkable, require less parking, and have more vitality. On-street parking is not purely a device to be used in the right environment; rather, it is a tool to help create that right environment.

Prevailing thought on the subject of on-street parking has shifted back-and-forth for generations, in part because most studies focus on one or two impacts. This chapter takes a more comprehensive approach in order to increase our understanding of on-street parking in mixed-use, commercial centers.

This paper aims to present the potential of placemaking as an approach of sustainable urban facilities management and its impacts on the improvement of the planning procedures which was aimed at involving citizens in the process itself. The study is based on the general concept of placemaking represented as an “overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a neighbourhood, city or region”, that serves as a process that “inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community” (PPS, 2007).

The study used placemaking (onsite analysis, stakeholder identification, citizen survey and emotional mapping) and public participation geographic information systems (The Kernel Density tool in ArcGIS and hot spot analysis) methodologies to map problems and preferences identified by stakeholders related to particular spaces within the move formed by Maršala Birjuzova and Sremska streets in Belgrade. The research covered two-day stakeholders’ workshops including four groups of users participated in the workshop – pupils of local private high school, street residents, students of the Faculty of Forestry and the Faculty of Architecture and owners of local shops and businesses.

Research has shown that different stakeholders can offer very rational observations on the quality of a particular space and provide clear suggestions on its improvement and transformation. These proposals can be organised in the form of visions of the future appearance and functioning of the space, thus recognising the potential in the function of a sustainable urban facilities management tool in the form of creating a common idea, which will result in the creation of a common space.

The research covered only part of the process that resulted in the creation of an idea of future public space transformation. Continued research should be conducted after the intervention, which would give a more comprehensive picture of the effects of the approach.

Practical implications include the presentation of the ways different groups of users perceive the actual and future transformation of the street to make this place more user-friendly and sustainable, i.e. practical example of the co-design process.

This paper provide an overview of the possibilities of placemaking approach seen from the perspective of sustainable urban facilities management.

The purpose of this study is to gauge and compare the impact of surface street traffic externalities on residential properties. Limited previous research indicates that negative externalities dominate for single-family houses. Our objective is to verify that this result applies to our sample, and to determine if the same result extends to multi-unit rental properties.

Hedonic regression is used to analyze data from 9,680 single-family house transactions and 455 multi-unit rental properties to measure the influence of surface street traffic on the price of the two property types.

Houses located adjacent to an arterial street sold at a 7.8 per cent discount, on average, compared to similar houses located on collector streets. Limiting the analysis to houses adjacent to an arterial street (where traffic counts were available), price and traffic count are negatively related. The results for multi-unit rental dwellings are dramatically different. Multi-unit properties adjacent to an arterial street sold at a 13.75 per cent premium compared to similar properties on collector streets, and when limiting the analysis to properties on arterial streets, no significant relationship was detected between price and traffic volume.

This is the first empirical study of the influence of surface street traffic on both single-family houses and multi-unit rental residential property. Evidence is provided that traffic externalities impact the two types of properties quite differently. To the extent that this result applies to other locations, the authors suggest planners may be able to use such information to reduce the negative effect of traffic externalities on residential property associated with changes that will increase traffic flow.