Planning for Retail Development: A Critical View of the British Experience

Abstract

Towns and cities in Britain have seen many changes in shopping facilities over the last 40 years. Planning for Retail Development explores how planning policy has evolved over the last four decades, and how it has affected retail property development. Clifford Guy also critically examines current policy and the assumptions upon which it is founded. Planning for Retail Development explains key events and debates in the evolution of retail planning policy, at central and local government levels, since the 1960s and draws contrasts between the 1980s, a period in which retail developers were encouraged by central government to expand away from town centers, and the more recent emphasis on protection and promotion of town centers as the most appropriate location for new development. The book develops a critical evaluation of past and present retail planning policies, based upon analyses of retailers' objectives and of typical consumer shopping behavior. Relationships between retail planning and wider societal concerns, including sustainable development, social inclusion and urban regeneration are also examined and analyzed and guidelines for future policy objectives and content are drawn. Clifford Guy explains the often conflicting objectives that planning policies have been based upon and how these lead to unclear policies which cannot be applied effectively or consistently. Assumptions about retailer and consumer behavior which underlie policy often seem oversimplified. Guy suggests that future policies need to allow local authorities to devise their own policies and solutions and explores how this would improve the situation.

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