Market Town Centres in England: Meeting the Challenge of Maintaining their Contemporary Relevance

Abstract

In the context of improvements in mobility and changing patterns of retail, the importance of market town centres to rural residents has diminished, leaving many vulnerable to decline and their contemporary relevance questioned. Based on experience from 11 case-study towns located throughout England, this paper considers the prospects for regenerating the fortunes of market town centres. It is argued that this can be achieved through an integration of functional concerns with an appreciation of the desire to develop ‘spaces of consumption’ where there is focus on the leisure aspects of town centre visits. Although a number of the issues are beyond the direct remit of spatial planners, an awareness of the implications of development management and the context within which decisions are occurring is crucial.

Notes

1. Within England, market towns have generally been defined as having a population somewhere between 2, 000 and 30, 000 (Swain 1997; DETR & MAFF, 2000). In other countries where towns and larger villages may be more remotely located, market towns may be smaller in population (Bunce, 1982), but the typical characteristic of a market town remains that, because of their rural linkages, they have more services and facilities than would be expected for their size. Say the phrase ‘market town’ and within the UK at least it conjures up a deeper historical and cultural meaning than the dictionary definition of ‘a town where a market is held’, with their distinctive locality being central to this meaning (Thompson, 1995; Powe & Hart, 2007).

2. This paper was written in the context of an economic downturn, accelerating the process of decline for many market towns. In England this is particularly the case through the closure of the Woolworths national chain, which had provided a small-scale form of department store in many market towns. This may be a catalyst for a further movement away from comparison retail for town centres.

3. Although driven by a lack of opportunities for education and employment, there has also been a general out-migration of the young from rural areas (CRC, 2008).

4. With by far the majority of ‘affordable dwellings’ provided in rural England being built through planning agreements on large private developments, Cameron and Shucksmith (2007) suggest market towns are becoming the key rural locations for affordable housing.

5. In English rural areas, for example, 11% of people do not have access to a car (Department for Transport, 2007b), with 28% of people in settlements with populations less than 3, 000 and 37% in settlements between 3, 000 and 10, 000 not being the main driver of the household car (CRC, 2008).

6. Local Strategic Partnerships are non-statutory partnerships, which bring together at a local authority level the public, private, community and voluntary sectors, with the hope of encouraging collaborative working.

7. This is a membership organization that promotes the dissemination of good practice in addressing issues faced by market towns.