Business Manchester’s Post

Love this! Just imagine the incredible potential for location-based entertainment experiences that pedestrianised city centres allow for! The ability to complement visitors' retail and/or tourism experiences through persistent, creative digital experiences, activated by the wide range of interactive technology available to us, would open up economic opportunities that far outweigh any lost economic value from not having cars on Oxford Circus. This is the answer to an issue that has long plagued city and town centres across the UK and, for that matter, the world: the death of the high street. Consumers want an enjoyable experience when they go shopping in real life, and busy, polluted roads significantly detract from that. If the experience of being on a high street is stressful and unappealing, is it any surprise that consumers choose to shop online from the convenience of their own home? Pedestrianised city centres will lead to more partnerships between brands, the entertainment industry, and technology providers, as they seek to utilise the newly created public real estate, driving innovation and economic growth. Creating healthier, happier, busier, and more accessible (if delivered correctly) cities will be a massive benefit to all of us. I was fortunate enough to work with local councils across the UK on the question of regenerating city centres, exploring how we could deploy 5G-enabled immersive experiences to increase footfall. A couple of years ago, the desire was there, but the initiative wasn’t being seized by the government, and the momentum fizzled out. Hopefully, this is a clear sign that things are changing. Don’t even get me started on the environmental benefits of pedestrianising large sections of a city. It’s blatantly obvious how much this would improve air quality. I really hope this happens!

One of the main recommendations of High Streets Task Force is for local authorities to invest in people who have requisite capacity and capability to know what works where and why. This way any decisions about schemes - pedestrianisation or otherwise - are based on local data, can be made with stakeholders, and be fully informed by current knowledge/theory. It isn’t rocket science - but there again it isn’t just ‘luck’ whether something works in one place and not another.

I agree Cathy Parker MBE, SFIPM that there is an element of 'luck' to strategic success, but the margin for error, when decisions are 'copycatting' instead of being #placespecific is so much larger. Building new, high-density housing without space for at least one car per household assumes that residents all work from home or have access to affordable/reliable public transport that allows them to get to their places of employment/child care/other duties on time. If they do not have that access, then it increases the local parking burden on existing residents. Parking needs in areas with a history of say, light engineering, are very different from a small shopping street where the dwell time for parking may be less than 20 minutes, because users are popping in on the way to somewhere else. But the factor that seems to be too often overlooked, is the parking needs of business owners and their staff. The days of being able to walk to work are long-gone. Businesses are often struggling to find and retain staff, so they have no control over the distance staff travel to work or the routes that staff have to take. In a central #Rochdale business survey in April 2022, 44% of staff could NOT use public transport to get to work on time. So, what options do those people have if parking is removed?  

Some 30 million people visit London every year, and most of them go to the same destinations: Parliament Square, Leicester Square, Oxford Street, and the Tower of London. One of the striking things about these places is how unpleasant they are. With the honourable exception of the medieval prison for traitors, most of the highlights of London are migraine-inducing places. Parliament Square is a chaotic traffic island, a disgracefully bad urban frame for the two noble buildings that flank it. Leicester Square is dark, ugly, tacky and said to be ridden with pick-pockets. And then there is Oxford Street, architecturally tawdry, blighted with mysterious sweet shops and horribly, horribly overcrowded. It seems to follow that we have quite an easy way to improve our ‘national brand’. If we made a handful of these key sites actually nice, 30m people would go away every year saying how amazing public spaces in Britain are and what tremendous progress the British are making in improving them. Every other high street in Britain could continue to decline, and the effect of that on our brand internationally would be outweighed by the improvements to Parliament Square, Leicester Square and Oxford Street. Assuming that national brand is valuable – and I think it is – this means there is an exceptionally strong case for public space improvements in those key locations. To general surprise, the Mayoralty announced this morning that, in the case of Oxford Street, it is actually going to do this. After years of wavering and disagreement, the Mayoralty is going to fully pedestrianise Oxford Street. It is also going to establish a Mayoral Development Corporation: this seems to be unnecessary for the purposes of pedestrianisation, suggesting that the Mayor may have still more ambitious changes in mind. ✍️Samuel Hughes https://lnkd.in/eadrwRWm

The London Mayor’s plans for Oxford Street are ambitious. And if you ask us, it’s the kind of forward-thinking vision our city deserves. As Oxford Street pivots from an exclusively retail street to a genuinely mixed-use district, it is essential we improve the quality and capacity of the public realm so the area appeals to visitors and Londoners alike. And as the Guardian reports, it’s comforting to see the evidence backs it up. According to UCL’s professor of planning and urban design Matthew Carmona: “The research evidence shows that pedestrianisation schemes lead to significant benefits to retail.” We welcome the current momentum to improve the street, and are keen to see these changes are delivered at pace so that the full benefits can be realised for everyone. Read more analysis about the plans below: https://lnkd.in/exggnSFb

In the latest P-THREE Perspectives, we consider the case for pedestrianisation of Oxford Street . We highlight the debate over the balance between accessibility and commercial appeal.

From backyard homes to mini-apartments, what's next in the works for Toronto ... How about more corner coffee shops near your local park? What about businesses in garages? What do you think about mixing retail into residential areas? Drop your thoughts below! 👇 #TorontoHousing #UrbanPlanning #torontorealestate #EHON #torontoEHON

HOW ANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD 'POTENTIAL' WHEN IT COMES TO LIVERPOOL'S FORTUNES? The end of last week saw a £31m boost announced for the city's life sciences hub and one of its best-loved markets. That's a large amount of additional innovation funding for infrastructure to include Paddington Village - in the Knowledge Quarter Innovation District - Great Homer Street Market and across the city towards Bramley Moore Dock. All stand to benefit. I was in the 'Village' area this morning with my camera snapping away at client the Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village - managed by Legacy Hotels & Resorts and RCP Spaces at The Spine Up to £13m will spent on delivering the nearby Sciontec Developments Limited scheme 'HEMISPHERE One'* – an 8-storey building with up to five floors of new labs promoting net zero principles in Paddington Village. A further £13m will enable Paddington South in the Village. And 'Greatie's' getting a £5m upgrade too! I've long resisted working elsewhere in the UK because of the pull of Liverpool. In so many ways. Seeing the city develop before my eyes is exciting, encouraging and confirms I was right to be patient about Liverpool's business fortunes. I'm not ignoring the much-needed regeneration of Liverpool required across the wider city boundary but slowly - and bring your own camera - take a look at what's going here if you don't follow developments or are less familiar with the city's perimeter walls and their rejuvenation. From 'Kenny' in the South' to Greatie in the North, the city centre is slowly transforming further and it deserves national attention. Plus what's the potential for Greatie to start selling 'dead posh' tea towels too? Nuala Gallagher Sophie Bevan Jacqui McKinlay Matthew Ashton Anne King Jenny Turnross Camilla Mankabady Colin Sinclair Knowledge Quarter Sciontec Developments Limited Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine University of Liverpool Liverpool John Moores University *A partnership between the Council, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, and Bruntwood SciTech. #Liverpool #liverpoolcityregion #pr #prcompany #pragency #marketing

Redevelopment is not easy having to deal with cities, tenants, and capital markets. I do expect the mall redevelopment trend to continue as most are on large land parcels in urban settings. #redevlopment #landforsale #infill #malls

One Port Street, Manchester Where Luxury Meets Legacy Manchester has long been recognised as a vibrant and dynamic city, but in 2024, it stands out as a particularly attractive destination for buy-to-let property investors. This is due to a combination of robust economic growth, a thriving rental market, and ongoing urban regeneration projects. Manchester offers a compelling case for buy-to-let property investment in 2024. ✅ High tenant demand ✅ 21.6% Predicted rental growth in Manchester by 2027 ✅ Excellent transport links from Manchester to rest of UK ✅ Significant regeneration projects currently underway ✅ Increase in property prices For investors, this means that now is an excellent time to enter the market and capitalise on the city’s growth. VIEW PROPERTY ---> https://lnkd.in/dC_73EgE #propertyinvestor #propertyinvestment #realestate #propertydevelopment #itjusthappens #ips