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Most provincial town centres in New Zealand typically feature old and vacant historical buildings, the majority of which possess heritage values. The growing perception that it is cheaper to repurpose vacant historical buildings rather than demolishing and rebuilding them is one of the factors that have made the adaptive reuse approach so popular. However, will this also be the case for provincial town centres in New Zealand? The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the key factors that could influence the efficacy of adaptive reuse, and check for significant differences in the effect that each perceived factor would have on the adaptive reuse efficacy as a justifiable resilient and sustainable approach towards the regeneration of a major provincial town centre in New Zealand that is currently experiencing inner-city shrinkage.

A focus group workshop was conducted with 22 stakeholders involved in an existing town centre regeneration agenda for Whanganui. Closed-ended questionnaires were administered to the workshop participants to measure their opinions regarding the efficacy of the adaptive reuse approach for the regeneration of Whanganui’s town centre. The participant mix comprised a combination of structural engineers, quantity surveyors, architects, estate valuers, building owners/developers, legal representatives, heritage representatives and local government council representatives.

The study reported a high proportion of respondents that strongly agreed to the positive impacts of adaptive reuse with regards to the discussed priority aspects, hence, justifying the efficacy of the approach, towards delivering a vibrant town centre for Whanganui. Also, the Friedman’s analysis suggests that no significant differences existed among all perceived adaptive reuse efficacy criteria by the workshop participants, therefore justifying the approach.

This paper’s originality pertains to the practicality of changing the use of vacant historical buildings in Whanganui, which is one of New Zealand’s major provincial town centres, to renegotiate resilience and sustainable urban regeneration for the area.

Many town centres in England exhibit high retail property vacancies and require regeneration. Several alternatives for the replacement of town centre retail (TCR) have been suggested, one of which is healthcare. The healthcare sector in England is in distress, with the National Health Service (NHS) tackling extensive patient waiting lists, whilst operating from an ageing estate. This paper is an introductory study that uses seven carefully selected personalised surveys to raise academic awareness of the importance and potential of integrating healthcare into town centres and calls for large-scale research to establish the statistical validity of the reported observations.

This study is developed from an interpretative standpoint. Through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders specific to retail-to-healthcare conversions, this study reports stakeholders' perspectives on opportunities and limitations for such conversions to give direction for large statistical research in the future.

All participants support the integration of healthcare into town centres and agreed that diagnostic services, mental health support and primary care services are appropriate for provision within town centres. The participants advocate large-scale change in town centres in England, with integrated healthcare co-located with complementary services to fit with wider regeneration plans. Participants prefer adaptation of existing buildings where technically feasible and emphasise the importance of obtaining the buy-in of other stakeholders whilst expressing concerns about the uncertainty of capital funding availability.

This is the first study to analyse the practice of retail-to-healthcare conversions in town centres. These are still rare in England and projects are complex. The market experience is limited, and thus, the literature is scarce. This study fills this void and provides a starting point for future quantitative research in this area and informs the new town-planning policies.

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 explore the experience of towns which utilize town centre management (TCM) initiatives. The findings which emerge offer insights into how TCM can aid the development of urban centres.

Qualitative research was conducted with public servants charged with the delivery of TCM initiatives in Northern Ireland (NI).

The paper presents multiple perspectives on the purpose, process, benefits and challenges of TCM, specifically the TCM initiatives in NI.

The paper presents evidence of the success of TCM in each of the participating urban centres.

The paper focuses on research which seeks to enhance the understanding of TCM initiatives. This research indicates that TCM (with the right stakeholders) is a viable alternative to town planning, regeneration and management.

The purpose of this paper is to identify ways to reconfigure physical retailing to ensure it maintains a sustainable position within the town centre ecosystem in the twenty-first century. The discussion draws on the evolving service-dominant logic (S-DL) and its service ecosystems perspective and evidence of best practice provided by actors involved in town centre regeneration between 2013 and 2018.

The research adopts a case methodology drawing on data submitted and analysed as part of the Grimsey Review 2, an independent review of the UK town centres. The data set provides examples of good practice sourced from industry leaders, trade bodies, local authorities and extensive social media engagement.

The paper evaluates the response of physical retail through an S-DL and service ecosystem lens. The review of best practice suggests that physical retailers have the best chance of survival if they proactively collaborate with other actors within a wider community hub solution, align their strategic position and operations to a holistic centre place plan and take steps to actively engage operant resources of consumers in creating physical store experiences.

The paper provides an evaluation of best practice in town centre regeneration implemented between 2013 and 2018. The case offers a rich bank of examples, illustrating how physical retailers are responding to the twenty-first-century challenges facing town centres. It makes recommendations for further improvement in the three critical areas identified above.

This paper provides further empirical support for the application of an S-DL and service ecosystem perspective to place marketing. To achieve effective value co-creation, physical retailers need to align themselves more closely with other actors in the system and maximise the potential of operant (and operand) consumer resources.

Town centre management has gained recognition as a mechanism for urban renewal. The partnership between the private (mainly retailers) and the public (local authority) sectors has become accepted as a vital ingredient in achieving vitality and viability. The town centre management model has evolved from a tactical to a strategic role. This paper considers how current theory can inform the task of creating sustainable competitive advantage for an urban area. It discusses how the frameworks of partnership and services marketing should be adapted in order to meet the needs and expectations of today's consumer. The conclusion outlines how the management of urban areas can be more effective, now that the concept of town centre management has matured.

This paper aims to examine the role of “restructuring” in confronting the challenges facing contemporary high streets in the devolved UK. It complements three articles concerned with repositioning, reinventing and rebranding and illustrates the multi-faceted approaches involved in addressing retail change and town centre transformations. This paper emphasises the role of planning and governance in effecting change.

Informed by a literature review, action research involved inter-related interventions in selected locations, and associated workshops with engaged practitioners and community actors.

The findings highlight that the “resilience” of contemporary town centres demands resisting efforts to return to the status quo and necessitate forms of adaptive management. Understanding high street degeneration and the limitations of a retail-only led policy focus as a “wicked issue” further demands socially constructing town centres as an ecosystem requiring a holistic response. New forms of joint-working involve selecting appropriate models, attending to relational aspects and defined roles and responsibilities. Land use planning, including masterplanning and creating evidenced policy options, provides an important democratic space for legitimising action, offering leadership and extending participation to new change agents.

Restructuring of governance is an essential prerequisite in effecting change.

The originality of this study lies in the application of the restructuring element of the 4 Rs Framework which enables a focus on the governance dimensions of town centre and high street regeneration. The findings are enhanced through the experiential evidence which stresses both the importance of place-based diversification and value of prioritising holistic and joint actions developed through participatory visioning exercises.

Within town and city centres in the UK the challenges of managing public spaces, concerns about crime, the fear of crime, anti‐social behaviour and environmental problems and the desire to maintain and enhance vitality and viability are important and interlinked issues. During the past two decades a number of policy and management initiatives have been introduced in an attempt to address these issues and to promote sustainable town and city centres. Town Centre Management (TCM) schemes, for example, were established in a growing number of towns and cities from late 1980 onwards (e.g. Jones 1990). The basic aim ofTCM has been to regenerate, sustain and develop the well being and to manage the potential of town and city centres by encouraging stakeholders and local businesses to work together in purposeful partnerships to ensure the co‐ordination and development of services. There are a number of variations in the structure and funding regimes of the 250 or so TCM schemes across the UK but they generally involve some kind of public sector/private sector partnership and funding, albeit in varying proportions, a focus on a particular area and co‐ordinated management.

Drawing on evidence from ten towns (across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) participating in the High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) project, the purpose of this paper is to reveal how local stakeholders involved in place management respond to high street decline through a strategy of repositioning.

This paper identifies the challenges faced by the towns considering repositioning, and highlights examples of good practice of relevance to the practitioners. First, it outlines the perspectives on repositioning from the academic research and theory, before drawing on evidence from across ten UK towns that participated in the HSUK2020 project, to reveal how repositioning involves more than just taking a snapshot profile of a place.

The research revealed major challenges faced by local stakeholders in clearly identifying and communicating their market position, in particular, the maintenance of up-to-date information on catchments was lacking at all the locations. Despite having local knowledge and some data, stakeholders still did not possess a clear (or shared) understanding of the identity or function of their towns. This evidence reflects the complexity of analysing and understanding repositioning and developing coherent strategies.

Knowledge exchange between stakeholders involved in place management can help inform the identification of new strategic objectives, appropriate interventions and project planning and delivery. Where resources are limited, particularly in smaller towns and settlements, the research demonstrates the significance of collecting and sharing data and analysis with other stakeholders, because this can generate positive outcomes for all.

By offering empirical evidence based on the experience of local practitioners, this paper provides valuable insight into how town centre stakeholders collect, interpret and analyse data, revealing the challenges, opportunities and practicalities involved in developing and implementing repositioning strategies.

During the past 30 years the balance between retail development in “out of town” as opposed to “town centre” locations has been a recurrent theme in retail planning policy debates and policy initiatives within the UK. This paper reviews the continuing growth and diversification of out‐of‐town retail development and draws attention to the recent investment in retail services complexes in out‐of‐town sites. A brief outline of changing central government thinking suggests an increasingly restrictive approach to new out‐of‐town retail development coupled with a policy commitment to “put town centres first”. The paper then offers some illustrative examples of town centre management initiatives in Leicester, Leeds and Manchester, and concludes with a brief discussion of some of the issues surrounding the “in town – out‐of‐town debate”.